Distorted

Past scorns revealed,

What amongst them is true?

Ignored by time,

Bred into indignation,

Where is love?

Kindness must prevail,

Be gentle my soul,

Steady your outflow.

Analysis

1. The Audit of Pain

Past scorns revealed, / What amongst them is true?

The speaker is performing a "sanity check" on their history. When we are hurt (scorned), we often internalize the insults. Here, the speaker is finally sifting through the wreckage to see if those past criticisms had any merit or if they were just baseless attacks. It’s a moment of intellectual honesty.

2. The Fermentation of Anger

Ignored by time, / Bred into indignation,

This is a candid reminder that time does not heal all wounds. Sometimes, time just gives a wound a dark, quiet place to fester. By ignoring the "scorns" rather than processing them, they have evolved into indignation—a righteous, burning type of anger.

3. The Moral Pivot

Where is love? / Kindness must prevail,

This is the turning point. The speaker recognizes that indignation, while perhaps justified, is a dead end. They are consciously choosing to pivot away from the cycle of hurt and toward a proactive stance of kindness. It’s an acknowledgment that "being right" is less important than "being good."

4. Emotional Self-Mastery

Be gentle my soul, / Steady your outflow.

The final lines are a command to the self. "Steady your outflow" is a powerful metaphor—it suggests that our words, reactions, and energy are a stream. If we aren't careful, our internal hurt will "leak" out and poison our surroundings. The speaker is opting for emotional regulation and grace under pressure.

Summary

The poem is about breaking the cycle. It acknowledges that while you can't control what happened to you in the past, you are the ultimate gatekeeper of what you release back into the world today. It’s a call for stoicism and radical gentleness in the face of a harsh history.