Values

I was raised with honesty
The uncontested rule,
A policy that was enforced
At home and, too, at school.

An object found by chance or luck,
I very quickly learned,
Could never be embraced as mine,
But had to be returned.

The wrong change given in a store?
An error being billed?
I’d proudly point them out; those values
Solidly instilled.

But times have somehow changed and now
Things don’t seem black or white.
My conscience sometimes grapples with
What may be wrong or right.

And so, instead of pride, I felt
A sense of ridicule
When, admitting that I’d underpaid,
I looked more like a fool.