The Law-abiding Citizen (Poetry)
02nd August 2020
He’s a model of obedience
not one step out of line
he never questions anything
and gets to work on time
He pays his bills, his house is neat
well-ordered — always clean
domestic chores wall-planned each week
a stickler for routine
His wife and kids (one boy, one girl)
well-programmed to comply
they know their places, keep the rules
no thought to wonder why
The law-abiding citizen
does just what he is told
he signed upon the dotted line
for life — and now he’s old
they’ll tuck him tidily away —
some home where, by and by
he’ll sit quite unobtrusively
and wait his turn to die
He’ll pass away without much fuss
lest nagging doubt recall
the man who never broke a rule
may not have lived at all
not one step out of line
he never questions anything
and gets to work on time
He pays his bills, his house is neat
well-ordered — always clean
domestic chores wall-planned each week
a stickler for routine
His wife and kids (one boy, one girl)
well-programmed to comply
they know their places, keep the rules
no thought to wonder why
The law-abiding citizen
does just what he is told
he signed upon the dotted line
for life — and now he’s old
they’ll tuck him tidily away —
some home where, by and by
he’ll sit quite unobtrusively
and wait his turn to die
He’ll pass away without much fuss
lest nagging doubt recall
the man who never broke a rule
may not have lived at all