Integral

I was tempted by the mantle

of the good guy —

the evidence compelling,

the accolades attractive

But I considered —

What, then, of the bad guys?

Is there anyone I’m willing

to throw under the bus,

to think of them as scraps

to pull away from my fine cut out

and discard?

No. Let the cloth be whole.

Let there be no one condemned,

no one discarded.

Let the good I am

be one that holds out

for the true picture,

where no one is cut out

and all are welcomed,

where everybody’s place is integral.

©Wendy Mulhern

November 22, 2019