In Judgment

The following is a song in the form of a spoken poem...

In Judgment

What is there to say

that hasn't been said?

that hasn't met the moment

of the living and the dead?

with hands that lift no one,

and feet that don't rise,

and howls that mean naught

but crocodile cries?

*

What is there to do

that hasn't been done?

that hasn't been thought or writ

or felt or won?

for the license of the few

to terrorize the many,

to lionize and glorify 

a parking lot penny?

*

We can listen to the noise

that says nothing at all

and do everything we're told

is best for us all.

But crocodiles and pennies,

don't die for the light -

they live for their own

and their right of might.

*

So before you halo

a sinner as a saint,

with a fabulist's brush

dipped in liar's paint -

remember to honor

the truth raw and bare,

the truth real and honest,

the truth just and fair.

*

Or listen to the noise

that cares not one bit

that it cleaves us into factions

of hell-fire and spit.

*

Follow who you follow

and do what's been done,

what's been thought and writ,

what's been felt and won,

for the pleasure of the few

to dominate the many,

to worship and revere

every bankrupt penny.

*

Parrot who you praise

and say what's been said,

that hasn't met the moment

of the living or the dead,

with words that lift no one

on waves that don't rise,

like brittle crocodiles

howling post-truth lies.

Further Reading

Author's Note (unpublished, tvfs) to In Judgment (above, tvfs)

M