A double murderer
Shot before a firing squad
Justice or revenge?
An eye for an eye
So, the old law book conveys
Punishment for sin
Society’s way
To rid town square of wrongs
Yet, death row awaits
The hangman stands by
The masses don’t know his name
Pulls the trap door latch
The cycle repeats
With no real decrease in crime
No one ever wins
Justice will make deals
With the guilty to win cases
Takes her blindfold off
Death for some killers
Others given terms or pleas
For the same offense
Lex talionis
The law of retaliation
Not meted out fairly
The pain that man inflicts on man,
Near constant since our time began.
‘Twas Abel by his brother killed,
No proper view of life instilled.
And ever since, we’ve spiraled down,
Eschewing heaven, eyes to ground.
Lex talionis, eye for eye,
Creates a false sense of restraint;
It certainly does not apply
When we, aggrieved, don battle paint.
For then we, every means, employ,
Seek our opponent, to destroy.
We feel a smug self-righteousness;
We use the mouth to curse, not bless.
We grasp not our imperiled state
And blindly seek our lusts to sate.
With our warped sense of justice bruised,
We rage against an unknown God.
With eyes now blind and minds confused,
We reach conclusions badly flawed.
We paint broad strokes, devoid of light,
Expecting red from black and white.
This is our lot; this is our fate
When god is small and We are great.
Until man sees these roles reversed,
Darkness pervades, and we are cursed.
my body cast
in stone
for ye
who throw
the first
i'll throw
it back
not needing
to ask why you
unto me
but an
eye
for an eye
forgotten
foreign
old texts
of testa
mints
testing
my breath
it now smells
fresh
Acts of contrition, on knees if I recount
Beatitudes, eight, sermon on the mount
Charity given, is blessings received
Dalai Lama, a Buddhist deity
Ecumenism, it understands and unites
Fascism erodes individual rights
Gaia, Greek goddess of our mother earth
Heresy, one's belief, another's mirth
Idolatry, the worship of false gods
Jehovahs Witnesses, the sidewalks they trod
Kama, Hindu god of the erotic
Lex talionis, is somewhat exotic
Mary, Christmas holds that she was a virgin
Naturalism, this belief seems to burgeon
Orthodoxy, keeping with old traditions
Penance, requires sin and admissions
Quaker, informal for Society of Friends
Ramadan, are you relieved when it ends?
Sabbath, is it Saturday or the day after?
Talismans, sometimes, subject of laughter
Universalism, bring us together?
Values the thought of happy ever afters
Whatever your dogma, does it really matter?
X amine your heart, reject idle chatter
You should maybe contact your Spirit Guides
Zenith of acceptance with us resides
beautiful photo of the church taken by Jackie on Instagram @jacci_eo