Jimmy kissed Meghan,
Jimmy expelled from first grade
-zero tolerance.
Priest exhorts gospel,
Men kiss on the State House steps
-marriage contested.
Children in circle,
Taunt a child in the middle
-yelling dope! retard!
Before tribunal,
Professor defends his lecture
-lessons not p.c.
Jill slammed her book shut,
Jack was now clicking his pen
-again and again.....
Justice Served
By Edward S. Gault
In the courtroom
The old man sat in a wheelchair
Breathing through a nasal tube
Listening to the judge
Read a 21 page warrant
Charging him as being an accomplice
In the murder of 29,000 people
66 years earlier.
There are those who believe
The man is too old to stand trial
For atrocities committed so long ago.
Why wasn’t he brought to justice earlier?
They ask.
The prosecutor said
The rule of law must prevail
The that the number of years gone by
Must not determine whether justice is done.
The blood of those thousands
Cries out for justice.
We must demonstrate to those
Who commit such crimes
They will not walk away.
But from across the room
One can discern (albeit barely),
A smile come across the old man’s face;
He knows that
He has gotten to walk away from it.
Copyright©2009
One Single Impression: Tolerance
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
9 comments:
An excellent poem, and the last line is so true. So ironic.
You always explore the many aspects of each prompt so very well, Edward. The final line of Justice Served is like the twist at the end of a movie, hauntingly too true.
"I don't call retarded people retard; I only call my friends retard when they are acting like retards"
- Michael Scott, The Office
Your poetry amazes me .. in that you speak of real life in a way that none can dismiss it as poetic notions.
The child being expelled because of a simple innocent kiss .. and a many getting away with murdering thousands, and only brought to justice when he is about to pass on ... oh the inherent injustice of it all is so very sickening.
I always enjoy coming here to think.
Each of these poems are so up-to-date with today's tolerance issues.
"Jill slammed her book shut,
Jack was now clicking his pen
-again and again....."
did he get away with it?
And what is to become of us?
I like all the thoughts here. The poem is wondrful...
OSI: fingers dance merrily in air
.. if it is merely understanding , it could be law or psychology -
if the understanding is imbued with compassion , a journey on the poetic trail begins ..
thank u for this work ..
...and people wonder why so many are choking from eating such a Tolerance Pie as we are being served these days.
The just are ignored and the evil are are laughing up their sleeves.
Tolerance can be so blind at times and all times are the right times for true Tolerance to be enjoyed by all.
Post a Comment