john sensele

Neka nibbled at scraps of rotten fish and strips
Of bitter beef from the unswept market floor;
They said his sticky fingers stole the missing money
Although he wasn't anywhere near the big boar
Who accused him of the talkative theft
That happened at the smelly trinket store.

Angry hands slashed him with a huge sjambok;
They spat on him and pinched his hungry skin
To squeeze an unripe confession by rude force;
They dismissed testimony from the next of his kin
Acceptable and watertight as it stood
And blind boots kicked him on the swollen chin.

They stripped his emaciated body naked,
Poked hot scissors into his bored backside
To brand the mark of shame on him
Near the rocky and craggy graveside
They'd prepared early that fateful morning
To bury him on the snoring hillside.