Love your Enemies

a poem by Frank Mendes

It is easy to give freely to those who give you
It is easy to like those who like and help you
It is easier to love those who show love to you
But it takes courage to love those who hate you.

An enemy goes an adversary, a foe, a sworn devil
The speech, thoughts, actions too are scheming evil
You evade and avoid, gossip, become very inimical
Verbal exchanges may even turn violently physical.

Broken relations makes it hard on reconciliation
You can’t see eye to eye, no peace, no consolation
But when True Love appears, enmity and hatred sinks
Doing good, mutual forgiveness, restores all links.

It’s human to err; but it’s always divine to forgive
Mutual respect and understanding, life’s easy to live
So let’s be humble, hopeful, without being fatalistic
For loving our enemies, though tough, is truly realistic.