Is the man crouched in the doorway
just worthless to your eyes?
His hand may reach toward you,
no doubt you’ll analyse.
Do you calculate his honesty
by the scuff marks on his shoes,
then write him off as a loser
with nothing left to lose?
The child who steals an apple
to ward off hunger pains
might strike you as too greedy
as he devours his gains.
Do you calculate his honesty
behind your blasé mask?
Or condemn him as a shameless thief
who takes but doesn’t ask?
Supposing that you turn away
offended by the sight
when a coin or two might give one hope
to make it through the night…
how could you face the mirror
knowing their fate rests with you?
How would you face your conscience
when there’s more that you could do?
The world is full of strangers;
there’s surely some who cheat,
still, it’s wrong to turn a blind eye
to the needy on the street.
Perhaps we need the fullest facts
to calculate with skill
Yet I would ask the question
“How can too much kindness kill?”
