How do you know
when you are one
of the Cast Out?
Those of us who
Are know.
Those of you who
Are Not cannot
Imagine it happening
to you.
There is some
Thought that you
Are being kind
By giving the
Cast Out the
"Space"
You thought they
Needed
Without ever
Asking them.
Conversations
Turn overly
Polite.
True Warmth
And sincerity
Are gone.
They Almost
Pity you
when you
Are Cast Out
to absolve
Themselves
of any guilt
They might
Be due,
Unknowingly
of course.
As human beings
We seek the
Love we either
Hope for
or have lost,
And even though
We have been
Cast Out,
Often in the
Dark
We sometimes
Long for such
Surface
Camaraderie.
Though those
Who are not
Cast Out
Would be
Mortified to
Hear that their
Circle of tight
Loving friends
Might ever
Be even
Conceived of
As surface
Depth.
Until of course
One by One
the Cast Out
find themselves
Outside for
Unfathomable
Reasons.
A couple splits,
And with hardly
A word,
A side is chosen.
You can tell
Because now
They Speak
More Freely
If guarded
Of the Cast Out's
Faults & foibles
That hint of
Pity &
Tactfulness,
Masking how
They all felt,
Obviously,
From the beginning.
But there is
No mistaking
That when I
Was Cast Out
Onto the street
That NONE of
Them,
Though they knew
Offered me shelter.
So I lived in
A stranger's
House.
A Crack House
Had more
Kindness &
Good Hearts
Than they
Did.
Until there
Was,
One by One
Others,
Cast Out,
As I was.
Then they
Understood
What was
Done to me,
What they did,
When they stood by
and did nothing
Was done
to them,
How much
It hurt,
How little
They were
Valued...
There are such
Subtle niceties
To believe
While you
Are in that
They are
being kind,
But Like
Dr. King said,
"True evil
is when good
men stand
idly by & do
nothing."
