When ambition became survival
Instinct replaced ideal

When integrity was read as infamy
Empathy became apathy

When honesty was made into travesty
Silence shielded modesty

When category replaced maturity
Sensitivity transformed to acuity

When truth stifled lest torture
Breakdown converted to critical juncture

When greed snatched equality
Rebellion stemmed from sanctity

Alas, when the boy did not live,
The man forgot to forgive

For when transgressions became lesions
Wrath protected him from treasons.

With thousand cuts to clean, he gleans
Because the end justifies the means.