Poem: Karma

It’s really only this: 
That you don’t get away with anything. 
Which comes as a surprise 
Only if you ignore the incontrovertible evidence 
Of consequences.
It’s not so much that your eczema 
Is payback for that slave you mistreated, 
Back when you were Cleopatra 

(Maybe it is, maybe it isn’t). 
It’s  that your words, your actions, your intentions, 
Inevitably have results. 
It’s as sure a thing as the ripples that spread out 
From a pebble thrown into a pond. 
Pebble and pond, have, in fact, been teaching this truth, 
To all those ready to hear it, 
For as long as there have been ponds and pebbles. 
A revolution of behavior results, 
Or at least a revolution of aspiration, 
When you see that,  
In the light of inevitable consequences,
Only honesty and kindness make sense.