Compassion and Inclusion

This poem is special to me. I was awarded the Silver Medal in the Queen's Common Wealth Essay Competition for this piece.

Compassion and Inclusion

The greatness of a community,

Is measured by its member’s compassion,

No, it’s not how it recognises ingenuity!

Or how it treats true passion!

It’s not about equal opportunity,

Or how resources are rationed!

Our instincts fall to this importunity,

Our values are now refashioned.

 

Is the faculty of discrimination,

Ignorance or rationality,

Is empathy the mark of a great nation?

Or is it indicative of a great malady.

Are people different since their creation?

Or is there no case against equality?

Concerning are equal outcomes and lack of gradation,

Not equal opportunity and an inclusive mentality.

 

Why is making that observation,

An act of bigotry and bravery,

              Of course, recognising differences,

              Doesn’t mean being insensitive for no reason,

              But don’t conflate respect and courtesy,

              For one is commanded and the other is earned.

              One is given regardless of your conditions

              While the other depends on what you do in spite of them.

              When you forget the difference between the two,

              Differences between people disappear too.

I have a possible suggestion,

But it probably won’t relieve your misery,

By necessitating compassion, we play a game of evasion,

A false escape, a pleasant reverie,

From the human condition’s abrasion,

And the fact that some are infantry while others are cavalry.

             

 

We bury away this truth,

Into the deep dark depths of our psyche,

The weak take away the human beast’s tooth,

While we pray to hyper egalitarianism and the almighty.

              An emasculating experience,

              A cruel reminder of the juxtaposition,

              Between inherent differences and the need to follow,

              The want for conformity,

              The slaves have already won,

              And inverted morality,

              There is no escape from the system,

              You are stuck for eternity

The strong make a truce

Between actualization and existence in society.

 

 

The greatness of a community,

Is most accurately measured by its members’ compassionate actions,

We must be kind and respect everyone,

For all of us are together, facing this existence!

Our experiences are unique,

And we must strive to see the other’s perspective

Shared love and vulnerability , the most beautiful facet of humanity!

We must all remember to be beautiful inside and outside,

Till we destroy the darkness, it must hide

 

We must be compassionate towards the poor,

And spite the society which never gave them a chance to rise up

And question the very nature

Of the monkeys who have too many bananas

But never share

 

We must be compassionate towards criminals,

And spite the conditions which made them commit actions contrary to human nature,

For our nature is serene

And also, towards the oppression and inhuman humiliation they face in punishment,

We must turn our eye,

And those sick freaks who have a sense of retribution

Must be rehabilitated

For they are contrary to human nature.

 

We must be compassionate towards those whose behaviour doesn’t fit into society,

We must help restore them to a state of normalcy,

As fellow humans it is binding,

For us to validate their identity!

You may be eccentric, but we can all help you to become normal together!

 

We must even be compassionate towards trees, animals and the earth,

For they have tolerated humanity longer than they were supposed to.

Oh! what inhuman pain we have inflicted upon them!

How can we even confront ourselves!

Without guilt and remorse!

For repentance is purifying.

 

We must remember that we are all made in god’s image,

Our nature is serene,
And there is no overlap between good and evil.

Hurting the other is hurting oneself!

Hurting the earth only weakens the chances of the herd’s survival!

 

All of us must move forward together, one step at a time,

The lone wolf can run away but never get too far!

When he cries, he cries alone, but we sympathise with him too,

And recognise the conditions that may have made him do so.

 

But when the herd bleats, the pastor shall always save it!

Remember the strength we have as a collective,

And especially when all of us are equal.

Which allows us to achieve our full potential!    

 

We can establish superiority,

Nay, the correct objective doctrine,

Of equality through studies, empirical data

And our unbiased deduction of a priori morality,

And human nature.

Hence compassion is how we determine greatness,

And it is how we achieve it too

No this isn’t dogma, for we are all rational.

 

Did you heed the message we gave?

Did you heed the message I gave?

 

-Chinmay Sharma