Hope Held Out

I've seen the good and the bad

of humanity's many facets;

rough cut, brutish,

tenderness, compassion.

Waving banners of freedom,

while denying it to some.

Scornful, evil ways of profit

Honor laid waste.

Amazing dichotomy and hypocrisy

bundled together in this flesh.

Common good trampled

but hope held out.

Flickers of justice here,

an ember of logic there,

a spark of reason that ignites.

Tempest populace that groans

under burdens granted elsewhere.

Crumbling, decaying archaic views

because hope held out.