Pain and Progress

retribution and morality

how we treat the very worst

every time always

says to the world

 more about us

than even the worst of the wrong

　

in the collective guilt

in the banality of evil

trading "blood for goods"

for the appearance of. . . ugh

　

the shame of evil

is and always will be

 in the act

 not the outcome

and the grace of good

 lies deep within the same

and we must always remember this

at any cost

that wrong remains wrong

even if it looks just

even if it feels right 

Author's Note