Mercy came knocking once, a pale wanderer draped in dawn, with weary eyes and gentle hands, carrying no sword, only the burden of understanding. But the wicked knew not her face. Their hearts were citadels of stone, where compassion died unnamed and every wound became a weapon. They barred the gates. For mercy is a stranger in the hearts of the wicked. She walks their halls unseen, a ghost among shadows, whispering of forgiveness to ears that worship vengeance. They drink from poisoned wells and call bitterness wisdom. They sharpen grief into blades and wear cruelty like a crown. Where mercy offers a bridge, they build a wall. Where mercy kneels, they strike. And so she leaves quietly, taking her light with her, while darkness settles deeper into chambers already cold. The wicked do not fear mercy, they fear what mercy reveals: that beneath their iron masks, beneath their kingdoms of pride, beneath the ruins they call strength, there lives a trembling truth they dare not face. For merc...
The heart was once a sanctuary
unguarded, luminous,
breathing belief as if it were air.
It trusted the warmth of voices,
never suspecting the blade hidden in kindness.
Hatred was sown low in the mire,
a quiet seed pressed into wounded ground.
No storm announced its arrival,
only the weight of betrayal,
only silence feeding its roots.
Deception burrowed inward,
layer upon layer,
until truth became a stranger
wandering halls it once ruled.
The lies learned patience,
learned how to live.
Darkness did not rush its becoming.
It rose like tender shoots after rain
green, convincing, almost beautiful
evil rehearsed gently
inside an unready soul.
That soul had been painted in light,
washed in faith, shaped by mercy.
But treacherous hands returned with acid,
erasing colors they once praised,
leaving scars where hope had lived.
This is the bitter craft of human nature:
how betrayal refines cruelty,
How innocence is taught to harden,
and how a heart, broken enough times,
is remade into something
It was never intended to become.
© 2026 Gloria Penelope
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