“You have kind eyes,” the cashier said to me,
while ringing up five items at the store.
I smiled, and I thanked him pleasantly,
and carried that and backpack through the door.
The notion stuck. I thought on it some more,
and maybe that’s the reason it took root,
but dealing with a small retail dispute
just after that, that showed the clerk to be
in error, while her “sorry” was acute,
her eyes conveyed overt hostility.

(Dizain)