Karma

I’ve made many mistakes and survived them well

Those I’ll admit to and those I won’t tell

As there are no prizes for how far I fell

And remembering alone won’t get me out of hell

Nor will forgetting, though karma will have its say

You reap what you sow so I plant seeds all day

As often as I’m mindful I act without delay

To purify my thoughts and keep evil at bay

Do not kill, do not steal, those are the easy ones

Do not lie needs vigilance as a rule of thumb

One’s moral conscience is laid bare under the sun

It takes hard work to earn guilt-free fun

Keeping good company is a good place to start

Loyalty to the vicious is a poison-tipped dart

Which eventually will pierce the loveliest heart

When slung around a room, every corner and part

Resolving to think only positive thoughts

Planning good deeds as something one ‘ought’

Breaking down the logic of the demons I’ve fought

To release the webbed nets in which I get caught

Turning to religion or philosophy

To ground conduct in well-tuned moral theory

Then choosing my action judiciously

Letting others live and letting them live free

Finding nourishment for my difficult soul

In art and music like a slow-burning coal

Warming my bones and playing the role

Of giving me the genius of others to extol

It’s not easy being good

But it’s much harder being bad

I’d lock-in my free will, if I could

To choices that make everyone glad

But with choices I can just as well

Live in the realm of heaven or hell

Which is why I must always wisely repel

Temptations of falling under the devil’s spell