Is there Mercy in Justice?

I was caught in the standard wrong place, wrong time.

They wouldn’t hear I hadn’t done the crime.

They took in my face, my clothes, my race,

but when it came to evidence there was no trace.



Media mayhem then ensued,

it was entertainment, not the news.

Fame wasn’t all it was made out to be

and I wasn’t fond of the paparazzi.



My fate in their hands no way to fight it,

their minds were set, they had decided.

With their clear disdain and hateful chants,

I entered the dangerous legal dance.



Dressed in a suit, I felt a fool,

no longer a person I was a tool.

Stereotypes flying, emotional strings pulled,

my defense charged the jury like a raging bull.



As the jury adjourned to decide my fate

there was nothing left but to sit and wait.

Whatever their verdict my life was over

when I was hated by my only daughter.



When the wait was over, with a weight on my shoulders

and a lump in my throat as large as a boulder,

I looked to the Judge, his glare left me terrified

and I felt there and then that mercy had died.



The spokesman’s gaze locked with mine

and his sympathy made me start to cry.

The words “not guilty” echoed through my head,

mercy at last, it wasn’t dead.



The lawyers escaped to their very next case,

so I turned to the gallery, looking for a friendly face.

I searched but there was no mercy in their eyes,

it seems it doesn’t matter what the jury decides.

Lines: 36

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WON 2nd PLACE IN A POEM A DAY CONTEST - 11/10/12  



HONOURABLE MENTION IN VIRTUES OF POETRY - 1/11/12  



Poetry on Spotlight for the month of October - "Invalid Item" 





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