In the void where the expectations run thin,
kindness is the most subversive thing,
not the greeting-card rendering with the pastel overlay—
the kindness that costs something and shows up anyway.
The hardest kind of kindness is the one that nobody sees,
that doesn’t get the credit and doesn’t get the keys,
the kind extended to the person who’ll never think to thank—
that’s the kindness with the genuine and unmistakable rank.
Kindness is the steel inside the soft approach,
the action that requires the most and gets the least of the coach,
it’s not weakness in a suit — it’s the hardest discipline—
kindness is the sharpest thing from the inside in.
I’ve known it in the form of the person who showed up unexpected,
who didn’t have to and whose doing it went undetected,
the kindness that arrives when the whole world’s looking away—
is the only kindness that was ever worth the pay.