Blank Checks and Empty Promises

 Resist the urge
To promise,
"Let me know
If you need
Anything."
Anything?
Really?

What if my need only
Revealed itself as a want;
What if I became skilled in
Executing another's work
To replace my responsibility?
What if my needs were true,
But their burdens were too
Great to bear?

Anything is an empty hope;
The offer given in respite
As to assure neighborly care.
But if the check was cashed,
Could you refrain from resentment
Against the one whose debt
Your bank had to pay?

What I fear:
You reply with "anything"
To appear polite,
Without the intention
That I may actually ask you -
Banking on your follow through -
Cross the street - I dare you -
Rather than wait for another Samaritan
To nurse a wound
Family could have healed.

A blank check
Of anything
Becomes an empty promise
That users will take more
Than their share;
And the ones who needed 
A simple something
Will refrain from admitting 
Such a thing.
Or else be labeled an abuser of compassion,
Because frankly,
The something desired
Was a presence beyond
Milestone celebrations and headlining chaos.

Without friendship,
Anything becomes nothing.
Within friendship,
Something becomes everything.