The Darkness Poem by Patti Masterman

The darkness that has entangled your life-
By accident, by marriage, by unluckiness-
Don't repeat it, so that its poisons may seep
All your days, into other affairs, and other minds;
For poison acts the same on men and women,
On the innocent and the guilty.

So that this toxin may not claim more victims,
Treat it as a dirty secret, and never repeat it once
To any living soul; and thereby you may stopper the bottle,
Save the world from contagions effect-
And let the ones who introduced the evil
Suffer the full symptoms, and let it die within them,
And not within you or yours.