Reasonable Penalties Poem by Barry Van Allen

I am asking for a penalty,
that simply fits the crime,
IF it was a crime at all.

He was ready for the punishment,
that he had somehow earned,
assuming that there was a crime.

He would be a man and take it,
there is a need for discipline,
in a rough and tumble world,
IF a crime has been committed.

We need to understand that sometimes,
those hormones will convince young guys,
that they need to chase some girls,
and that minor crimes,
and stupid minds at times,
are just part of growing up for guys,
...and then they need to chase more girls.

Soon that political correctness,
at least correctness down in Texas,
began to find the reasons,
tiny minds would find the rhymes,
to convict him as a rapist,
and soon they sentenced him to hard time.

He was SO much older,
and she was only seventeen,
he was SO much larger,
and she was so petite.

He was of the trailer park,
and she the country club,
potential didn't matter much,
when they were making love.

He was convicted in an hour,
by a jury of his peers,
in a hot, dry Texas courtroom,
fulfilling his worst fears,
... and forget about their second thought,
the first one was of ice-cold beers.

At first she came to visit him,
but as he changed she couldn't take it,
she sort of understood survival,
but wasn't really ready for it.

After 15 years in prison,
they HAD to let him go,
and at 33 he now knew enough,
...was big enough,
...and was mean enough,
to show up at that country club.

He watched her through the windows,
as she was dancing with her husband,
who was all dignified and rich and gray,
when he was sure that she was happy,
he simply turned and walked away.

The dots are not connected yet,
the D.A. just disappeared,
they think the judge died of old age,
the other 8 they blamed on fate,
and not on silent, seething rage.

He knows the other 4 will be no more,
and they are doing it all themselves,
for conscience drives their midnight cabs,
into the very depths of Hell.

He didn't know at first what he would do,
or where the roads might go,
but eventually he found his way,
to peaceful nights of falling snow.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
(Did you do the math to find his age at conviction?)