-- Not What They Seem --

John Herlihy

There never was a sin,

That didn’t betray what I love.

Just as there is some love,

That feels like a sin.

There never was a virtue,

I could not learn to hate.

They say patience is beautiful,

But there is a limit to the wait.

Vengeance can be a fine thing,

Just as forgiveness can be cruel.

Satisfaction what revenge can bring,

Forgiving tastes like eating gruel.

Sometimes we are accused,

As though we were at fault.

In doing right, we are abused,

As if thrown down into a vault.

We leap into quick judgments,

Without thinking of the cost.

Decisions can be white elephants,

Winning only to have lost.

We learn things that we never knew,

We ignore things we need to know.

We do know what the vices mean,

Virtues not always what they seem.

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(c) John Herlihy 29 July 2020