Judex Damnatur Cum Nocens Absolvitur Poem by Ramona Thompson

Judex damnatur cum nocens absolvitur
The judge is condemned when the criminal is absolved
The lynch mob is waiting right outside these doors
My time grows short
My breath catches in my throat
My hand trembles as I write this final goodbye letter to my family
I let a guilty man go
So they say
Is it so wrong that I still believe I did the right thing?
Is it so wrong that I gave him a second chance?
It's all out of my hands now
The crowd's roar outside is deafening
My thoughts are clouding
In fear of the storm that is rapidly gathering
I try desperatly to shake off this dread
I cannot
I try to tell myself
Fool myself into believing
It will be all right
Once they hear my side of the story
They will not harm me
They will me go
A fool's dream
A fool's wish is all that I know it is
As the doors brust and break behind me I resign myself to the fact
The judge's final judgement day is here and from it there will be no escape

2009 Ramona Thompson