But for a bitter taste in one's mouth
not from the herbs infused in the liquor
but an intoxicant of righteousness
rolling gently on the tongue and tasting of the four seasons
just to assure
guilt.
It's important though
to stand upon the books
that all proclaim ultimate judgment
through tomes that document failures
to enforce the change
that conspires when life transpires
despite the virulent faith of the prophets of anti-truth
a device simply to
sharpen the sides.
And the moment comes when one sees life taken
and whatever innocence that is left for only god to answer
regardless of the degree of their sin
we assume the wrath of an angry deity
hammering faith into law so then face justice,
face death.
Ruling classes mark their victories with pylons of granite
the names of criminals assigned at baptism etched into the stone
as if everything that happened afterward
could be forgotten in the eloquence
it stands beaten upon by the rain
or harvested by the sun
a cold stone statue marking
the vigilante that responded.