POETRY PROMPT: THE WAYWARD

Are we appalled by what we see

Are we sincere in what we say

Or are we secretly relieved

When the wayward pass away?

Have we lost our dignity

Have we abandoned all we know

Are we quietly content

No matter how the wayward go?

Is there loathing in our hearts

Is there embarrassment and shame

Do we reject mass condemnation 

When the wayward are to blame?

Is there odd joy we never share

Hidden sighs of relief

Have we stopped counting every time

A wayward one dies in the street?

Have we concluded by their lives

That only two choices remain

Incarceration, or the grave 

Punishment for the wayward’s pain

Can we sustain the fake outrage

And all the sympathy we share

Or do we revel in the peace we find

Without the wayward there?

Have we given up the fight

Have we no wise lessons to teach

Do we surrender to the fates

The wayward ones we didn’t reach?

Have we really had enough

Are we as outraged as we say

Is there a sense of satisfaction

When the wayward pass away?

VRWc2020