The Virtue of Shame
By John Herlihy

I
Shame is what it is and goes by no other name;
But what is shame exactly that it is considered a bane?
We make a mistake, then quietly endure the heat of the blame.
Shame is held in contempt as being beneath one’s name;
But shame is much more than inadequacy or pure distain,
Burning its way down a narrow wick with a tired flame.

II
Animals suffer no shame and go about their business on a whim,
Driven by hunger and need, their survival is nothing if not grim.
With no thought to consequences, their prospects can be dim.
We wear shame imprinted within the pores of our very skin.
We feel it most deeply when dealing with our next of kin,
When we flaunt our shame, we pay a price in the wages of sin.

III
We can develop our sense of natural shame into one of the fine arts.
No one wants to endure the humiliation our natural shame imparts.
Our most telling nightmare has us naked before a gallery of upstarts.
The horror of being exposed is enough to crush our exposed hearts.
It is in human nature to protect and safely preserve one’s private parts.
Sacred is the image of the naked body and we the master of arts.

IV
Natural shame is a sweet civility that cultivates balance amid strife.
Our nakedness teaches us about shame as we walk upon life’s knife.
By instinct, we cover our nakedness as we walk about in broad daylight.
Reproach and shame are hidden mockingly behind plumes even at night.
The owl wraps itself in feathered wings as it hoots about its plight.
There is virtue in our natural shame that amounts to a human right.

V
In Hamlet, Shakespeare questions the source of shame’s first blush;
We know full well the source of our shame and dare not say hush.
Homer’s Odyssey says a shamefaced man makes a bad beggar;
We don’t want to display our guilt like a common bootlegger.
Aristotle calls shame an ornament to the young and disgrace to the old.
When young we need to be bold, but when old we need to be told.

VI
The worst kind of shame is to be ashamed of one’s frugality;
A shame worse than shame is to be proud of one’s brutality.
As long as we are ashamed about what we should not do,
Then we will not be ashamed about what we should do.
We are born to a natural shame sitting like a crown on our brow.
Its virtue teaches us humility; our humanity shame will avow.