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1 Kindness poem
About poems about kindness
One poem defines this shelf and it is worth the visit on its own. Naomi Shihab Nye's "Kindness" argues that you cannot know kindness until you have lost things — that you must see the dead man in the road, and recognise that it could have been you, before the word means anything.
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That is a much harder claim than the greeting-card version, and it is why the poem has travelled so far. See also Gratitude and Healing.
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- Naomi Shihab Nye — You must lose things first — the whole argument.
- Mary Oliver — Attention offered as a form of care.
- Ross Gay — Small kindnesses, catalogued at length.
- Lucille Clifton — Generosity in very few words.
04/28/2026 14:58h
Oh! Shepherd John is good and kind,
Oh! Shepherd John is brave;
He loves the weakest of his flock,
His arm is quick to save.
But Shepherd John to little John
Says: ‘Learn, my laddie, learn!
In grassy nooks still read your books,
And aye for knowledge burn.
Read while you tend the grazing flock:
Had I but loved my book,
I’d not be still in shepherd’s frock,
Nor bearing shepherd’s crook.
The world is wide, the world is fair,
There’s muckle work to do.
I’ll rest content a shepherd still,
But grander fields for you!’