I

I went through life,

Believing in

The innate goodness,

In every human being;

Possessing a heart

Beating behind one’s chest,

Renders one to find their best

To give to others,

Or so I thought;

And if not that,

At least a little part,

A shred even,

Of kindness

To a soul in distress,

Goes a long way.

II

But then one day,

As I walked on my way,

I chanced upon

Something quite the opposite,

Of this perfect world of my dreams;

And once within,

I found I couldn’t retreat.

The only way out,

Was through a dark valley

Of hatred, disgust and self doubt;

Nowhere to be seen,

For miles at a stretch,

Was any measure,

Of the decency,

One would profer

A fellow human.

III

So, now I live my life,

Wanting to, but not quite believing,

That there’s some good

In every human being;

For some folks

Are just too broken –

Some in giving,

And others in receiving.

Image Credit: Photo by Alexander Voigt on StockSnap