Mistakes We Buy Into
By Odin Roark

Might parental upbringing be but a whirlwind
wavering over the quicksand of youthful fear?

As children, should there be lessons learned
through the ignorance of grace
and the false power of intimidating?

Our adolescence provides so many missteps
we embrace without reason,
even though we possess the sure-footedness,
but choose to ignore the balance offered.

And then there is adulthood,
where words and actions are as often
expressed with hatred and judgment,
even as our innate nature is to embrace
rather than reject,
empathize, rather than criticize,
accept our weaknesses,
rather than choosing a path of self destruction.

Instead of discovering errors as revelatory,
we buy into most of the mistakes we make.
enjoining the pandemic of victimization,
all the while forgetting the choice of grace
visited upon everyone’s childhood playground…
so long ago.