Will You Judge Me Tomorrow as You Did Today

How is it possible that when we meet someone and truly like them it can change in an instant because of something done years ago and for which they have paid a price.

Guilty as charged I have done it. Let it be something involving a child, pet or loved one and I'm probably going to be the first to leap, literally. But when does the difference in the crime make a difference and in how we feel about an individual or how we judge them.

Please don't tell me you don't judge people we all do it in deciding if they are a good person or bad and if we want to be friends with them. But doesn't sometimes their past make them the person they are today and where do we draw the line? Does it matter how many are committed or what the crime was?

While thinking about all these questions, my past, and more I wrote this poem and thought I would share it with you. Let's just say food for thought.

Understand this is about my third so bare with me as I am a beginner at best.

Will you judge me tomorrow as you did today

or will you change your mind

When I tell you the truth and

the error of my ways

Will you judge me for my past

once again closing a door for me

Is it the crime, the guilty by association

or something you just can’t let be

When friends and family come to visit

will you want me to run and hide

Are you afraid of my past

or what now really dwells inside

Can you accept me for who I am

and the person I want so desperately to be

Or is your life also filled with others from

whom you could not flee

Does it depend on the crime

A petty theft, grand larceny, DUI

or will just the thought no matter

the circumstance just make you want to cry

Do you believe in second chances

Is rehab a possibility

Or should we all just be locked up

And throw away the keys

Are addicts an exception, the insane

when they commit the crime

What if it was the homeless panhandling

and really just needed a dime

Does the crime fit the punishment

No matter what the age

Or will you just completely shut them off

and totally disengage

Sure there are crimes committed

that make me want to cringe

But don’t you dare be afraid your judgment of me

will send me on a binge

I am a woman of conviction

In more ways than just one

Can you accept me as who I am now

And the person I want to become

My heart and soul have been broken, ripped, and torn to shreds

and on that you can take bet

But what scares me to death

is doing something again I will always regret

Will you join me in my new life

Accepting my lessons as learned

Helping me celebrate new triumphs

those which will be truly earned

Someone once told me we all have skeletons in our closets

and a price to pay

Or is it different if your never caught

do they just go away

So be careful how you judge me today

and then tomorrow in another light

Because who knows what the future will bring

and if your price to pay is in clear sight