A Poetry of Principle

It’s probably true your kindness remains
More often at odds with your principles
Than your principles will let you admit.

How many times have you cautioned yourself
With an eye to some vague, internal court
Of opinion, public or personal,

Of scriptures, ancestors, thinkers, elders,
Or neighbors, imaginary frowns for
Impulsive acts of generosity

In spirit, cash, or simple affection?
Where were your principles? Your principles
Are not your inventions. Your principles

Are not written in the mathematics
Of an exquisite cosmic perfection.
Your principles are in a tournament

Of their own, and you are a breathing part
Of the ecosystems selecting them.
Any principle that discloses this

Makes itself vulnerable, makes itself
More likely to vanish into thin air,
Exorcised from this tournament of ghosts.

If kindness conflicts with your principles
About when and who you should be kind to,
So much the worse for your kindness, for you.