The Law Poem by Joseph Anthony Montefusco

'Hear ye! Hear ye!
This court is now in session
The charges brought up
Are of unlawful possession

Of a nine millimeter
And two phials full of crack
Found tucked behind a tire
Inside a burlap sack'

'I’m innocent you’re honor
The cops planted all of that
I would never touch a drug
Or even come close to gat

I’m a follower of the law
And a God fearing man
What did I do to deserve this?
I just don’t understand'

'Do not speak unless spoken to
Now how does the defense plead?
On the charges brought before us
We plead innocent indeed

Then let the trial proceed'

Argument follows argument
By both the defense and the state
And now the verdict’s in
The judge has sealed his fate

'The count finds this man
Guilty of all charges'
'Oh s***! What does that mean? '
'You’re going behind bars, kid'

An innocent man
At the tender age of nineteen
Has been locked up for five years
For not being clean

Now one night in his cell
He awakes from his bed
Only to see
About three talking heads

'You hold him down
So I get him first'
He keeps his mouth shut
And starts thinking the worst

'If he starts to scream and squeal
Then go straight his throat
We don’t want him to bleed all over
So wrap his neck with your coat'

These men then take him
In every sense of the term
A quick horizontal slash
And blood drips as he squirms

Several days go by
And the word is in
The police have been caught in a lie
And for the man a full pardon

But of course it is too late
This mans a victim of justice
A victim of corrupt law
But that’s the way it just is.