Mercy monosyllables

Mercy works
with monosyllables mostly-
a yes, a no, a you and we.
Not terse but tender
is her plain-spoken brevity.
She listens, she tends,
a Martha-like Mary:
a touch, a wordless sigh,
the cup, the quiet care.
When sermons and lectures and advice and chat
fall flat,
when answers and solutions and neat endings flee,
in the company of grief and shock and bone weary sadness,
the monosyllables of Mercy are home.