He was certain he knew ‘better’ when he saw it – and he saw it in the mirror.

He saw it in those ‘just like him’.

And with that thought – the bridge drew faintly up from the road.

Intolerance was his second nature. Learned in biased company. Feeding him now at his roots.

The lever pulled, the windlass turns, the draw bridge ascends.

Elitism was the coin of his realm. A snobbery that found others poorly lacking.

Sometimes it was because of color. At other times education.

Other times it was a financial disparity that he sold his bigotry to.

The bridge retracts.

The gapping grows, another link as up it goes.

Religions, not his own, made him certain of savagery.

Any orientation that differed from his norm he felt free to despise.

The level pulled, the chain is drawn, the bridge retracts.

Politically, he held opposing views in contempt.

Cultures, not his own – he judged a savage blot.

Exclusivity filled the moat – that surrounded the keep – that housed his preconceptions.

The moat dispels.

The bridge drawn tight against the castle walls.

The roadway ends where the moat begins.

The gatehouse guards the gap – ignorance fills it.

Through turrets in walls he sneers his contempt at those he never learns.

From towers aloft, always looking down his nose – desolation breeds isolation.

Not even bars to show this self-caged beast.

A castle keep. A dungeon all the same.

The bi-product of pride-filled prejudice.

The arrogance of bigotry.

Amid evil all his own.