I
For profit I abandoned all standards of conduct,
and brazenly used deception to make my living.
I cared nothing for conscience or morals, nothing for integrity or dignity.
I lived only to slake my ever-growing lust and greed.
With an uneasy heart, I scrabbled in a mire of sin,
with no way to escape this boundless darkness.
The riches of life and transient pleasures
could not hide the emptiness and pain in my heart.
It is simple to write the word “man.”
But to be honest and trustworthy is harder than hard.
Who can save me from this abyss of sin?
