Rhyme And Punishment (Poetry)

If the poet’s found guilty
he’ll swing for his crimes
he’s been spreading thin truth
barely coded in rhymes

He’s been mentioning love
and examining hate
so the poor reader’s left
in a terrible state ...

There’s no justification
for poems like these
careful poets should write
about flowers and trees

and keep their opinions
not give them full rein
or they’ll risk being punished
again and again

Well, he’s been charged already
the rules were quite clear
he’ll be thrown in some dungeon
far-distant from here

They’ll deny him all paper
no crayon or pen
and force-feed him TV
that seducer of men ...

They’ll beat a confession
he’ll bleed from each line
and he won’t sin again
but abstain for all time

If the judge shows him mercy
as one or two might
he could get thirty years
should the verdict prove tight ...

They will burn his slim volumes
and blacken his name
the entry scratched out
in the great halls of fame

A persona non grata
his talent erased
no friends to defend him
his children disgraced

His life in the balance
where did art go wrong?
Is such sacrifice worth
all the pain in his song?

He’ll have years to reflect
while he learns to behave
knowing men never listen
mere words cannot save ...