I knew I liked you back then
Your smile
Your pretty laugh
The floaty way you walked
… and your eyes …
They had the better of me

I didn’t know why back then
Too young?
Too self-conscious?
Too busy mimicking
The shallow behaviours
Of those I thought better than me

Thirty years on
Here you are again
And I can finally put my finger on
What I couldn’t before
Kindness
That’s what I saw

Not that carefully curated kindness
The kind laid out on an oily surface
Like bait
But warm, genuine kindness
Deep as Mimir’s well
And I like you all the more