Written in pen upon the wall
Inside the corner restroom stall
Were words of hate I would erase
About a man of different race.

But what I was surprised about,
Offensive words had been scratched out
By loving hand through angels near,
In form of person sitting here.

And more surprise than what I've said,
Under the spoken passage read
A different writing scolding he
Who wrote the words of bigotry.

No more unlikely place I've thought
To learn the lesson that was taught
Of hope and love by what I saw
In writing on the restroom wall.

Copyright © 1997 by Randal A. Burd, Jr.

Publications: St. Augustine, FL: The Candlelight Poetry Journal, Spring 1997; Marysville, CA: The Poets Edge Magazine, Vol. 1, No. 2, 1997

Author's Note: Poems viewed here are the latest versions and are not necessarily word-for-word as published.