An Encounter with Gentleness – a poem by Liv Ross

An Encounter with Gentleness

It was a small thing,
the minutest gesture.
I doubt today if you even remember.

A spider, sitting on your shoulder,
and yet, no anger or disgust.
No startled swatting or violent brush.

Just mild amusement
and a little card.
A quick relocation,

then return to conversation.

Liv Ross is an urban monk, a poet, a painter, a birder, and a student of Christian Spirituality. She has been engaged in creative writing more or less consistently for two decades and was slightly startled, though far from displeased, to discover that poetry is her medium. When she’s not writing, Liv practices gardening, pipe-smoking, leather-working, and mischief. She lives in the Midwest with a dog, Jedi, and two cats, Gandalf and Patroclus. Peeks into her work can be found on Instagram @liv_ross_poetry or twitter @je_suis_liv.