AUTHOR ROSALIENE BACCHUS


Reaching minds and hearts through storytelling



POEM "THE BENEFIT OF THE DOUBT" BY AMERICAN POET CHERYL BATAVIA



CHERYL BATAVIA is an American poet and retired schoolteacher. Born in Quincy, Massachusetts, she is the daughter of a United Methodist minister. During the 1950s and 1960s, together with her younger brother and sister, she spent her childhood in several small towns in Pennsylvania and Virginia where their father served as pastor to the community. They explored the Pennsylvania farm country, the Blue Ridge Mountains, and the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia.


She worked at many jobs before completing a teaching degree at forty years old. For twenty years, she taught social studies in inner city public schools in Washington DC and later in Florida where her husband got a job opportunity. In 2011, she retired early due to health issues.


With a life rich in experiences, Batavia writes poems about life, love, family, and nature. Her published books of poetry include:


• Hanging Out with Wild Animals Book One (2017)

• Hanging Out with Wild Animals Book Two (2018)

• Hanging Out with Wild Animals Book Three (2019)

• Wonders: Poems about Love and Relationships (2022)

• Life in Inspiring Places (2022)

• Earthly Days (2023), and

• Life on the Blue Planet (2025)


Mother of three grown-up children, two of them adopted from Russia, Batavia and her husband live on the Gulf Coast of Florida where they enjoy going to the beach and observing the beautiful wildlife of Southwest Florida.



Photo by Joe Batavia, published on the Poet's Official Website

at https://gulfcoastpoet.com


THE BENEFIT OF THE DOUBT BY CHERYL BATAVIA



Give everyone you encounter

the benefit of the doubt.

You don't know all their circumstances,

and maybe you'll never find out.


That woman who wears too much makeup

may be trying to hide

bumps and bruises inflicted

by her drunken husband last night.


The student who sleeps in school

may have spent the night

listening to his mother and her boyfriend

have a knock-down, drag-out fight.


The girl who weighs too much

may be comforting herself with food

over nightmares of childhood abuse,

and diets don't do any good.







THE BENEFIT OF THE DOUBT BY CHERYL BATAVIA continued



That boy who robbed the liquor store

has never harmed a fly.

He may be raising money for treatments

and hoping his mother won't die.


The guy who brews your coffee

may be sleeping in his car

and feeding an addiction that takes

all he earns at the coffee bar.


The man who suddenly vanished

may not have figured out yet

how to pay his bookie

an overdue gambling debt.


Give everyone you encounter

the benefit of the doubt.

You don't know all their circumstances,

and maybe you'll never find out.



SOURCE: From the poetry collection Life on the Blue Planet by Cheryl Batavia, printed in the USA, 2025, pp. 4-5.