Kindness darts like lightning.
The man who owned the fourteen motels,
before any other could (and others would),
he bought a day of peace
for the peaceless man —
“Damn,” he said. Coffee for $2.30.
What must he have seen? That thin
diner coffee now seems decadent?
And the veteran — would he have bought
coffee for a man the age of his oldest daughter?
I decide to believe so, out of a different kindness.
No — because he is kind.
He held the tie-die girl close
with familiarity, with fatherliness.
It must be much more natural
After so much practice.