Gentleness, Rejected

Once upon a time,

Gentleness was a sign of strength

Not frailty of character, or codependency

But evidence of a person’s soul.

When did common courtesy and compassion

Become rewritten as weak boundaries?

Our world has become corrupted

If to be kind, is to be weak

And to be aggressive is to be strong.

What does this rejection of empathy

And praise for the rise of narcissism

Offer to humanity, but disorder?

Is the survival of the fittest so powerful

As to dominate over genuineness, integrity,

Teaching the rising generation to value entitlement

Over basic concepts of honor and reverence.

I am a gentle soul in a calloused world

Where love is seen as overbearing

And toughening up my gushy soul

Seems the only acceptable way to exist

Without becoming consumed whole.