Kenneth Durham Smith

London, UK

Kenneth Durham Smith was raised mostly in rural Michigan. He graduated from Justin Morrill College at Michigan State University, having studied literature and philosophy. He lived in Seattle before moving to London, expecting to stay for 1 year, it has now been 20. In addition to writing poetry, he is a Morris dancer and trains in Aikido.

Poem was written/completed April 29, 2020

The Random Civil Servant

Jewish tradition says that the continued existence of the world depends upon the tzadikim nistarim, the hidden 36 righteous people, each of whom does not know that she or he is one of the 36.

Dressed in the standard issue grey suit,

umbrella still present under the arm,

but because times do change, hatless,

our civil servant slips through the crowds,

largely unnoticed, but not unfelt,

as eddies of what can only be called

kindness trail in our civil servant’s wake,

and those in the eddies find themselves

being nice to each other,

one small effect of being one of the thirty six.

Our civil servant does not, cannot, know.

Those who are hidden in plain sight

are hidden even from themselves,

and a life that seemed modest to itself

nevertheless carries the world.

But what if the thirty six were not fixed,

that anyone can be, has been, will be,

for just a moment, one of the thirty six, 

that you this moment carry the world,

your random act of kindness is a stone

plonked into the still clear waters,

the ripples crossing to the horizon,

and you will never know how far they go.