So cynical are we

So cynical are we
Our minds are so easily
Caught up in dissatisfaction
We share not in others
Attraction or success
If it is not our own
It is meaningless

How selfish
We are so very
Much caught up in
Our own desires
Can we not rejoice
In others happiness

No, it seems this too
Is beyond us
So we shall sneer
And mock
If we are in misery
Perhaps we too
Might draw others in
To our own company
They shall despair

But we do not care
At least now
We have robbed them
Of what joy they had
And in some twisted way
We are glad

None should be so happy
As we, when we should be
All things are so temporary
Why make such a show
Of a thing
It too will pass

As we sip from our glass
We strive to forget
Our troubles
If but a moment
Our heartache may cease
Perhaps then
We shall find peace

But this moment too will fade
And all our energy
Will be spent
As we make our descent
Even deeper into despair

Why do we so often linger here
Do we truly desire this company
Do we cherish this feeling
This moment of solitude
And loneliness
All seem so
Very distant

There was once a time
When we did long
For so many things
We did hope
And dream
We believed
Most anything

Anything seemed possible
Then...
When our sphere of safety
Rested secure
But when that thing was pierced
And the nucleus
Of our dreams was shattered
Then...
Nothing mattered

So we wandered
In exile
And denial
We lost all memory
And recognition
Of those days
The pain was too
Severe
We did not
Go near

For fear
We should be
Struck down again
Such a thing
We could not
Endure
Again

So now, how we become
So jaded
We hate, everyone
And those who
Say they are happy
And laugh at the days to come
We think, how dumb
Are they
They too will pass away

How naive
They often seem
Yet, somehow
There is something there
Some innocence
We covet
And we shall have none
Of it
We should wish
To snatch
What little joy they have
From them

No one should be so
Fortunate
For even a moment
They shall not remain so
For long
Only time and trouble
Will ravage them
Of youth

For the folly of man
Is born with it
Scarred from birth
Doomed to die
To hate
All that is pure
For it will never be
In and of itself

Once was there a chance of it
But man did follow his own desire
His pride, did trip him
And he fell from its wire

Now as he does retire
To the mud and the mire
He sees no way
He may
Rid himself
Of this waste
And wrong

Night and day
He does pray
To the gods
Of his lineage
But none answer him

But there is one
From long ago
Who did share
Company with his kin
Before madness
Did drive them
To sin

Twas he
Who did enter in
To this world
To reclaim
Humanity
And take the blame
For their
Profanity

If only
A remnant
Would remain
And follow
They should gain
Restoration
From this
Stain

But not without a cost
To this redeemer
Would it require
He must
Plunge beneath
The murk and mire
Into the pit of hell
To dispel
All the sins
Of humanity

But he would do it willingly
That a few may find
Hope, and rest
In him
That they would be
Restored
And rejoice once more
In the hope of all humanity

-Joshua Lee Foist