Cruelty?

I traded my snow flakes for
Ashes and a dry spell
Wondering how long things would grow
Before they burned.
It's a wish spliced with an expiration date.
Nature just has it's way
Of helping us with what we can't fix,
Encompassing pretty much everything
Knowing I'll grow faster when it hurts.
Pain and fear cripples but, it keeps you alive.
A vagrant named, Jim, once told me,
"Honesty without compassion is cruelty."
Though, sometimes there isn't any nice way
To keep you from killing yourself.
About a year later, Jim died but,
It wasn't cruelty that got him,
It was cancer.