I Didn't Expect Poem by George Knott

I must admit,
That when I came into this world,
I didn't expect the pain.

The screaming,
The shouting,
the bruises and the bleeding.

I didn't expect the control,
the need to control your life,
Even When no one lets you.

How choices are taken from you,
And the decisions made for you.
The helplessness.

The greed.
The all-consuming need,
To take, to have.

How, if you let them,
People will take,
And never stop taking.

The tears.
The water, cascading,
Down your face.

Be it during
The night or the day.
The sobbing.

The lust.
The wandering eyes,
The craving.

Both others, and yours.
And the stupid mistakes,
That it causes.

How, no matter how much
You try, you can never get
Everyone to like you.

You can talk to them,
Or help them, but it never
Makes them love you.

The differences,
And how they tend
To separate people.

Attitudes, opinions,
And looks, tools
For causing pain.

The masks,
The concealing,
And the lies.

Everyone hides behind,
The falsehoods, too afraid,
To show their weaknesses.

But.
Not everything,
Was negative.

I saw hope.
The thing that drives us,
To complete another day.

How it keeps,
Us going, no matter
How dark it gets.

I saw love,
And what people will
Do for those they love.

The pain they will go through
To keep loved ones
Unshed tears at bay.

I never expected the purity
The innocence in those
Unguarded laughs.

How, once the masks
Fall, everyone has the
Same childish innocence.

I saw both good,
And bad things,
That I never expected.

The pained laugh
And the tears of joy,
And their causes.

But most of all,
I did not expect,
The blindness.

How some people
Could only see the dark,
Or the light, but never both.

And I felt pity.