Ode To Victor Hugo(27) the Miserable ex-Convict Poem by Freeyad Ibrahim

Each time the bishop uttered the word 'monsieur'
The man's face lightened up
The courtesy to the ex-convict
was like fresh water
to a shipwrecked man.
Ignomity thirsts for respect.
'This house is not mine
It is Christ's,
It does not ask a man his name
But whether he is in need.'
Said the bishop.
Indeed!
(What becomes of the leaves
of a tree sawed down at the root?)
This was the shortest story
Of this ex-convict.

Freyad Hugo
Heerenveen
August,2021