Frank F. Atanacio Poet Dramatic Verse

Guilty In a Dream

The image of dozens of burnt witches
 tied to wooden beams
came back again,
he was the judge,
that chose their end,
guilt was pushing the voices into his head,
dozen of witches dead,
simply on his say-so,
and justice is what he failed to show,
this time he didn’t push the image away,
he kept it in his mind to his dismay,
he was the hunter and they were his prey,
he let himself remember the body twitch,
awkwardly as the flames came,
there was simply no advantage being a witch,
and he wondered if they would call God’s name.
Tags on toes of burnt women,
piled in crates like deadwood,
forgiveness is what he wanted,
only if God could, or if he should,
a gentle touch on his arm snapped him back,
he turned to the young witch tied to a beam,
caring is what he lacked,
as he ordered her burned to the fullest extreme,
and he would only feel guilty in a dream.

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Charmaine Chircop March 15, 2009 at 1:08 PM thanks for your earlier comments,you use strong words in your poems,you are so great.who is perfect?who are we to judge the witches?yeah i understand he feels guilty in the dreams,he has a reason to,what he did was very bad,dreams are many times based on our thoughts,so i think in reality there was a time when he felt guilty too,God mercy all of us,we are all sinners in some way.your poetry is wonderful,thanks for the message sent by this poem-charmaine malta

Carolyn Devonshire February 20, 2009 at 11:19 AM Frank, You capture well the awful age of witch hunting in America. Reminds me a how foolish society is to judge its members in such horrifying ways. Thanks for reading "Blizzard." Barbara will be pleased as I just sent her the comments. Love, Carolyn

Laurie Ginn February 5, 2009 at 7:02 AM I agree with Chris, during the day you put your game face on. I try daily not to judge others and become so haughty and conceited believing myself to be better than...admittedly it is a battle at times cause Im so darned adorable lol. sooo kidding. Laurie

Christopher Higgins February 5, 2009 at 6:18 AM This is a very good write my friend..The guilt will only appear in the dreams because the heart is hard as a rock..well written piece.

Michael Degenhardt February 5, 2009 at 5:40 AM Frank, I see in this man, not the guilt of being the killer, but the guilt of becoming that which he thought he feared, the witch. Your poem reflects the image and weight of the dreamlike guilt very well and clearly. Michael