Kindness is a green word
of strong roots, serene branches
and massive shades
for your weary soul-
to grow for you a Maldhari* heart
to befriend lions of Gir-
you walk away restored,
pure and buoyant-
even if love becomes an obsolete word
and all mouths talk in tongues of blood-
*The Maldhari community is a tribe of herdsmen in the border state of Gujarat, India living in harmony with the wild Asiatic lions of the Gir forest. They have been instrumental in increasing the number of this big cat, almost wiped out in the 19th Century.
Those who are interested can check out this link :
https://www.thehindu.com/sci-tech/energy-and-environment/the-prides-of-gujarat/article19777230.ece
Posting for the first open link@ earthweal
sumanar/lekha 
Those last two lines are killer!
What a clean and fresh addition to the earth’s weal — Kindness IS green and the demonstration here is that a thing loved is a world restored. No matter how damaged the words might be … Thanks so for contributing it to earthweal.
Beautiful, Sumana. Kindness is surely a supreme virtue, and matters even when everything is falling apart.
Kindness to our planet is in order indeed. !
I love the idea of words as “green.”
And in that vein, kindness certainly belongs.
Nice!
The last two lines seal the deal! Excellent thoughts expressed here.
How wonderful that the Gir people live in trust with the lions. Animals are extremely good at cooperating and respecting and helping other species. We could learn a lot from them. I love “Kindness is a green word”. It makes me think, sadly, that blood is a red one and too much of it is being spilled everywhere.
I want to grow such a heart. Maybe then I would be able to the “if” of your last two ravaging lines.
But is not kindness a kind of love? Gosh we need more of both. Really gorgeous and hopeful, maybe, thank you.