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Pray for All the Bad People

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Too often

I don’t like the world

So much

Too much of it is ugly

And dissembling

And there are brutal people

Who would take everything

From everyone else

If they could,

Who would like to hear

What I have just said

About them

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But I have a moment

Now

The breeze is on me

There is sunshine

Blue inside green trees

Thinking about

The change to autumn

Things don’t have to be so bad

Not everywhere

With everyone

I know there are people

So much better

Than myself

Who would have prayed

For me

And for my attitude

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I can’t collapse

Into a ball

Of self-decided evil

I am not all bad

Or all good

Neither are you

We’re a mixture and we try

There are some who won’t,

I guess

Who see the quantities

As hollow and would prefer

A blank space from which

To self-determine

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Choice is good

I choose to lean toward good

I hope you do

Though I will not decide for you

And must respect your humanity

As I struggle to respect

My own

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They are not

Two sides of a coin

This is not the plain

Of Manichee

Though I think there might be

A garden or such place

In which we may decide

What is what

Who is who

With peace inside

While time waits without

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Choose what you will

There is precedence

I will pray

As you can

As you will

You will pray

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C L Couch

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1 Real

Photo by Eduardo Soares on Unsplash

Brazil

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