His father said, “My boy’s an angel”
This alone should make us fear
For when someone sees only One Side
The Devil’s often near
None of us are just One Thing
If we are a Human Being
So many Praises we all sing
Instead of truly Seeing
His father refused to see his son
Could that be why he came undone?
No one can live with that kind of “love”
Perfection just another drug
Oh we must Wake to Subtlety!
Take in what we’d Rather Not See
Learn to work with that, my friends
Learn to let it be —
To offer compassion to all the dark things…
Before they grow uncontrollably
Or Evil will walk this Earth with us
Wearing labels
Of “Angels”
While the Devil on the other side
Grows stronger ‘cuz He’s trapped inside
Nowhere to go, so
He rots the soul
‘Til eventually it…
Explodes.
*My heart goes out to those murdered and hurt in Boston. This poem merely represents, for me, a wish for us to one day get to Peace. And my feeling is that we must focus on who we ARE able to work with: ourselves. But we must choose to do it. We must look at all the darkness within that we’d rather not see. No, most of us would NEVER do this. I get that. And the more we can be aware of our own darkness and pain — and the darkness and pain in others — the more we face it and work with it — the better chance we have of changing this pattern.
“Be the change that you wish to see in the world.” – Gandhi
ariaphoenix 
Well put, Katie. Perfection being another addiction — I like it. I have always wondered about people (parents?) who say, “My child could NEVER do such a thing.” Unfortunately, I think anyone is capable of anything — good or bad. As you intimate, the shadow side must be acknowledged, so that it doesn’t hide out until it explodes.