On Trial

His palms sweat as he pushes his sleeves down

And adjusts his hair with the slightest motion

As the jurors look on

And the witness too, on the stand

As he feels the words flying off his tongue

And he feels alive, like snorting a double thick line of cocaine

As his cross examination flows, like water,

Across a marble ceiling, pipelined straight for everyone’s ears.

He believes firmly, in his heart that a man is born with one gift,

A true, natural, God-given blessing.

Mozart and Beethoven- they felt music, they tasted it

They saw it.

Some men feel art as paint brilliantly strokes the tiny dimples of a canvass

Some men sing, dance, write-

But he, he sends people to prison, sometimes to die,

It is his gift.

He looks at this woman, perched uneasily on the stand,

And she looks as if she will cry,

Overwhelmed.

And he is seeing it all as his words keep running,

And then-

Stop…

He forgets what he was going to say, or he forgets to remember,

And he can’t think suddenly.

And suddenly he is sitting at the kitchen counter in his home

And he is 9

And his father asks him what seven times eight equals,

And he stands, gaping, the answer on the tip of his tongue,

And nothing comes.

(“Disappointed …”)

Given a few seconds to think, he could recall-

If it wasn’t so loud all of a sudden,

If the screams of the air conditioner weren’t drowning his thoughts,

If Van Gough’s creativity wasn’t laughing over his destruction,

-he could speak

And he wouldn’t be standing in a now silent court room,

Staring at a no longer teary-eyed witness,

Failing to impress judges,

A whole room full.

 

 

Reviews

[allie_arrowz]

ahh i see.
beautifully written. i loved the story line and i really love your style.
thanks for sharing :)

[CHRIS ANDES]

this is a piece of impression i could never forget
=]

[MOON]

You captured that feeling well not measuring up , good word choices too.

[Coyote Poetry]

A very intense poem. I like the story in the poem. Even men with no kindness can be stopped for a moment. I like the journey back into the past and the very strong ending. Thank you for the outstanding poetry.
Coyote

[Pencrafter]

Your poem would be even more enjoyable, I think, as a short story. You skillfully portray a person who has a vivid imagination and must wrench himself back to reality every so often. I can relate to this because when I was a youngster in school I had the same problem, which usually resulted in trips to the principle's office or a conference with parents and teacher. You have created vivid images and characters we can relate to.

[Paul R. Watson]

Thank you for your review, i am glad you could relate!

[afra]

good job......keep it up

[...]

. my thoughts about this post ... (not a critique) ... my mind says these words are written by someone who is dealing with an acute consciousness of consciousness ... is time traveling between memories ... and knows how to wield words ... and images ... like a skilled warrior ... incidentally, i was never good at "performing" in structured tests ... or impressing a room full of judges ... as one of my favourite poets ... mr. ed hart says ... some of us are constitutionally incapable of colouring inside the lines ... he also happens to be on this site ... if he's one of the judges, that's all i ask for ... but then that's me ... regardless of all else, this is an excellent piece of work, dear poet ... a very rewarding read ...

[Paul R. Watson]

Thank you so much for your review! I am so glad you liked it!

[...]

. you're very welcome ... :) ...