Ballad Of 'The Judge' Poem by Sidi Mahtrow

All stood ‘round
The burying ground
Saying their goodbys.
Through misty tearful eyes.

An old neighbor happened to stay
For he had something else to say.
As we looked around
The hallowed burying ground.

Saying goodby isn't easy
Some say what will please ye,
While other's look away
Not looking you in the eye.

For in this one gone to ground,
All had found
Life too short
For his kind to abort.

The judge, who
Always seemed to know what to do.
Either for friend or foe
He always seemed to know.

Never a hard word
From him was heard.
As he studied the event
Before making a carefully worded judgement.

This one lingering here
Seemed intent to make his point clear.
Shuffling his feet to gain courage
He decided to make quick his charge.

'He and I never saw eye-to-eye,
Seemed he always could spot a lie
And yet never once used that as a point,
To his side, anoint.'

'He'll be gone fifty years from now
And it'll still be remembered how
He could always find a way
To bring reason to any day.'

'When I'm dead and gone
After the final song,
The crowd will drift away
And forget me forever on that very day.'

'I never thought of him as a friend
But on this day, I send
Him to his final resting place
Knowing the Judge will have no more trials to face.'

His crooked cane from a briar
Stands in the corner - there
Waiting. If he comes back again
He'll surely have a tale to spin
And just like before,
He'll make his point and more
So another can see
That that's the way it should be.

Albert to Mom,
Dad to the kids,
And 'Judge' to all.