There Must Be Honesty in Kindness

Augustine Bowe

There must be honesty in kindness,
It must look beyond a bow! of soup, a night of rest,
It must not be a momentary blindness,
An obstinate refusal to see the sunset in the west.
A fortnight in the country is a good thing for a child
But there are more than a score of fortnights in a year,
And some of them come when the winter is wild.
The youngest infant will grow old and full of fear.

We must hold many a hand that is dying,
We must feed many a face many winters through,
And many an angel on white wings flying
Has less to do than we have to do,