For His Own Good

He joined because he wanted to "help people."
It drove him, motivated him, fulfilled him.

So we teach him to not care, to disregard, to ridicule.

It's for his own good, we say.
After all, he might get hurt if he cares too much or is kind to the wrong person.
Because the patient may not be worthy of kindness. 
And we can't be compassionate to those who don't deserve it.
We are powerful like that.

We teach him to not care, 
and so convince him that to deny his vision, 
his very fabric, is his means of salvation.
And he becomes an evangelist of the Cause, griping with the best, 
for why does anything matter anymore?
The vision must have been a lie, so the lie becomes a vision.

But one day, when suppressed emotion festers and pain metastasizes, 
he realizes that while he was busy shirking calls and mocking outcasts, 
lines have blurred, and he is the one who needs tending.
He is one of "them."

And he knows how "those kinds of people" are treated.
"Those kinds" never deserved compassion.
So he doesn't either.

No one can ever know.
There is no help. Those he respects do not care for his kind.
There is no escape.
Except through the darkness.

Remember.
It's for his own good.