Courtesy

“May I help you?”

“Thank you.” “Please.”

“Beg your pardon.”

“Yes, I agree.”

A cheerful “Bless you” when I sneeze.

Courtesy is made of these.

 

“After you. Please, go ahead.”

“Won’t you sit and break some bread?”

Can’t read what’s inside your head, so

Some things better left unsaid.

 

Fair to you is fair to me,

The boon of reciprocity,

The bedrock of civility,

The heather’s breath upon the breeze.

 

Every heart craves sympathy

With soft indulgent chivalry,

The precursor to comity and

Laughable affability.

 

So, grace be kind and courteous

Replete with geniality,

And life be kind to bear in mind

That this is how it’s meant to be.