A Lone Domino Poem by Brian Rihlmann

Sometimes we glimpse
the row of dominos
that led to a man's final fall.

We even see
the clumsy finger
that toppled the first one.

But we quickly
blind ourselves
and forget
amid the hive's
deafening buzz.

We prefer not
to see something
that softens the ground
beneath our hatred's feet.

If that man is free,
then he is pure evil,
a lone domino
severed from a long chain,
responsible, guilty...

And fair game
for the biggest stones
we can throw.