Only One Drop
By John Herlihy

A single drop of poison will in time the fountain invade;
A single drop of pollution will the entire well pervade.
Waters once pure now reek of evil most foul;
Night shadows set loose in the darkness on the prowl.
Glistening waters now muddied in rivers most turgid;
Desires flow through veins bordering on the perverted.
Virgin springs now corrupted and giving off a stench;
Causing a frightful thirst nearly impossible to quench.

Avarice and ambition contain in the mind a greater charm,
Than any lawful pleasures that raise no unnecessary alarm.
What is caution in one is considered hesitancy in another;
Admiration is misunderstood as jealousy of one’s brother.
Our good qualities procure in us a high degree of confidence;
While simple trust in God precludes any sense of diffidence.
Some remain aloof and prefer to stand away on distant ground;
Others run into the fray hearing the drum of a heart-beating sound.

Forget not the elementary principles we have vowed to uphold;
Forget not the multiple virtues that lead us into the fold.
Be courageous, be brave and above all fear not to be bold;
The devil will ask you to finally return whatever you have sold.
Who might that insidious devil be, recognizable for all to see,
Just a drop of poison whose foul nectar is carried like a bee.
That flits from forest to meadow infecting all flowers in the realm,
No one escapes the evil eye, even he who stands steadfast at the helm.

Happy are they whose good intentions bear fresh fruit in life’s tree;
Content are they whose evil thoughts wither like a dying flea.
We may express confidence that carries simple innocence in tow;
Our humility builds ramparts to preserve our virtues from woe.
A higher tribunal will listen to the crimes we have committed;
Of our corruption, treachery and lies, nothing will be omitted.
It takes many drops to fill up the contents of a vast ocean,
But it takes only one drop to set the world’s evils in motion.