We Are the Less*

Watching heroes fall
Is an especially ruthless experience.

To have a hero
Requires action
Requires enthronement
And no little trust.

When in painful times
I assemble the thinning ranks
Of the few I’ve so ennobled.
I think on them
And they bring relief
Hope
Charity.
They bring honor.

So, when one of them
Is made to step from behind
A false front
I encounter pain
Rooted in an unwise
Foolish nomination.

Yes, I know this is America
Where innocence is presumed.
I also understand any charge
Can be reduced to
He did / She said.
But there may never be a court of law
In which the matter can be resolved.

That forces deliberation.

Mr. Cosby
I doubt you much care
What one person may think.
But you were on a remarkably
Lofty strata
Among the few that could
Arbitrarily and instantly
Mollify my melancholy.

You are no longer funny, sir.

You no longer have substance.

We who adored you
Are among the victims
(albeit nothing like those you violated)
Of your pathetic behavior.

We are the less
For having made you the best.

*My personal thoughts on Bill Cosby's impersonal behavior.