To you

I came to India with unrivaled idealism

The hope to change the world

The optimism of a child and the naivete of a girl

I have been faced with deception, theft, manipulation, and cruelty.

Revenge, jealousy, lies, exploitation

Man's true nature unveiled

In hideous horror

To virgin eyes

My heart has been broken

My world turned upside-down

I have become suspicious, cynical, exhausted by sin

And haunted by the selfishness that not only surrounds me,

But that lurks within myself

My disillusionment crippling

My faith in humanity crushed

I doubt even my own motivations,

My ambitions

And certainly my capability to bring good to this world

Are we beyond repair?

Can we hope for more than brokenness?

Some days, I think not

Some days, the depression convinces me that we are doomed,

Prisoners of our own making

Destined for failure

And impossibly trapped

By shackles of greed

But you!

You come and hold my hand

You warm my body with chai

You share your food and home

You lift me up the mountain

You point to the brilliant sunset

That I could not see

For I was buried in my elbows,

Ashamed of my tears

And I see

That perhaps

The world still has tender moments of beauty

That can live just as long as they are protected by the weapon

That is love.