Compassion is a bomber jacket - from Steady, Pilgrim

Compassion is a bomber jacket
worn reversed.
People warm their hands
on fluff
and love you for the softness of the stuff.

Turn your jacket round,
put your own vessel first.

Let cold leather be your skin
then you can fly your plane
way up where air is sliver-thin
and warm yourself,
yourself,
as you guide
your solo mission in.

The title poem from Steady, Pilgrim

Steady, pilgrim,
walk with grace.
The saint was wrong,
there is no race.
You make a road
for those behind
who know not
that your work is blind.

Each year a mile
from wilderness,
the path made straight,
the toil made less.

Each day a slab 
to smooth the track
for foot, for hoof,
for weary back.

Each hour a tree
to shade the head,
give fruit to quench,
make wine, be fed.

Each thought a sky,
unbounded space.
So, steady, pilgrim,
walk with grace
remembering
your unborn face.