In a movie I was watching tonight, there was a bit of reflective dialog that caused me to think.  Judging people without knowing where they’ve been is often the wrong choice.

Broken Down Shuffle Off
by Michael Romani

Scarred face is less than a scarred heart
Is the message the man's life seemed to impart
As I sat there judging him, while he kept pushing on
Every night, like stage fright, he'd drink into oblivion

All I knew was that he woke up into a hungover stupor
Each morning, feelings a wreck; feeling less than super
But as I sat there finally listening to his story
I found enough heartbreak to embrace and not just a "poor me"

Seems his six year old little girl gave up the fight
As leukemia came and like a thief sucked out all her light
And with her life, his wife decided to give up too
Leaving his life in carnage, bottled up like animals in a zoo

The rage would melt into hurt into rage again into the night
And this was the story about the man I held in my sight
Judgment turned to sorrow as I listened to his heart bleed
Suddenly seeing the need for blurring past his primal need

This broken down, shuffle off was all that he had left
Alone in a cruel world and shaking hands with death
So, then there it was a man who needed prayer as he pushed on
Spending his time drinking his sorrow into the abyss of oblivion

(c) September 15, 2018  Michael Romani
All Rights Reserved