John Lawless Poet Free verse

The Greater Lesson

The decision had to be made
regardless of the consequences
It was imperative the situation be resolved.
A committee was impaneled,
titles were assigned, seating arranged,
an initial hearing scheduled.
The details of the conflict
examined and discussed.
The offending parties glared at each other.
The children examined their fingers.
The cat feigned disinterest.
The dog, as always, looked guilty.
Dad smirked as if he already knew.
Mom shook her head in disappointment.
The cake she had made lay in ruins.
The evidence was everywhere
yet no charges were filed
for Mom knew that “guilt”
would punish us more severely,
exact a harsher toll,
teach the greater lesson.


John G. Lawless
©2/21/2022

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Caren Krutsinger February 27, 2022 at 3:35 PM I thought it was a summit meeting until I reached this part "The offending parties glared at each other. The children examined their fingers. The cat feigned disinterest." Fun to read!

Bj Legros Kelley February 22, 2022 at 10:19 PM Mother's shake their heads, certainly, in sorrow and knowingly, but my mother didn't tell me this, my father did. He told us in the mornings after he woke screaming in the night after visiting memorials. PTSD. He said "Mother's and sweethearts waited on either side." He said there was no glory in the death of another man "We are all just people." He didn't want any of us to ever know the stuff of his nightmares of war. This is a stirring poem. <3