【The Tenderness of Pity】

                  By Tian Yu Zhi

“I am having the best time of my life

Right now …” She said, with a smile

“What you just said, broke my heart,”

“It broke my heart…” , he repeated 

The burning wood in the fire pit 

Let out a loud sound, red stars splashed out

She sank in her chair, defeated ——

Someone just uncovered her hidden wound

It was the faint tremble in his voice,

The tenderness in the tone, turned her head 

Oh, the tenderness of pity, around braai and fire,

Came from a stranger in a distant continent

Through the smoke of fire, she saw herself

Weeping in his arms, without a sound, 

For eight years