Revenge is a two-edged sword,
—A brandished tool so grave to hold,—
Which if handled by an aggrieved hand,
Might pierce right down to the soul!

Yet often after a deed is done
And the offender is paid as deemed,
The voice of guilt in the offended
Is hardly ever brought to a calm.

For tho' by the whims of revenge
The aggrieved is made to be at par,
The hands of time on its fulcrum
Would someday prove it to be a loss.

What then is the need of a fight
By a bitterness unquenchable,
Which of its own is but a curse
To whomever it claims to avenge?!

Oh that all men may learn it so
—However hard it may seem,—
That calmness in the face of all err
Is far a great remedy for the soul.

© OLUMiNOUS