Disappointment

A poem about people who I’ve been taught to admire and how they’ve let me down

I learned of great heroes
When I was young
Only to see
They were pricks

Christopher Columbus
Who I learned discovered the New World
Was no better
Than an enslaving conqueror

Thomas Edison
Who I thought was a great inventor
Was in fact
A thief

Bill Cosby
Who I believed was a funny man
Was a disgusting
Predator

But even though I know this
And they are no longer heroes
There are others
Whom I can admire