Gather your stones
You can’t scare him with tones
You know he’s a traitor
Who’s heart’s cold as stone
Spare him! Spare him!
He's done no wrong
Every life's precious
Once did he not belong?
Rattle his bones
Ignore his drones
He's only a traitor
Who's heart's hard as stone
He's guilty! Kill him!
Why should we wait?
It’s obvious that death
Should be his fate
Scar him with stones
Block out his groans
I can see he’s a traitor
Who's heart's black as stone
Mercy! Spare him!
Can’t you see he’s ashamed
Has killing innocents
Become a game?
Pelt him with stones
Don't care if he moans
He's a worthless traitor
Who's heart's made of stone
From the lowly poor in the open air
Who's noise is louder than battle
To the cocooned leaders and jury
To whom the noise is little less than a rattle
“So my brethren, the jury,”
Asks the King with a sigh:
“Have you decided?
Will the man live or die?”
One judge tells the King:
“There is some confusion
Was he really a traitor?
We can’t make our decision.”
The general tells the King:
“He didn’t betray us, you know
He just stole our rations
And consumed them, so,”
“He’s not a traitor
Just a hungry man
We should let him live
And show mercy, if we can.”
The King sighs again,
“Even if he’s just a thief
To make those peasants happy
And to keep the peace:”
“We must let him die
For beneath here, beneath
The mob is chanting
As we all speak.”
Until his innocence is shown
Gloat at his smashed bones
He’s just a traitor
Who’s heart is but stone
The jury say:
“So, it’s decided then?
This man will never take
Another breath again.”
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AN: See below.
Inspiration for this poem:
Rattle his bones
Over the stones
He's only a pauper
Who nobody owns.
(A nursery rhyme)
Also, at the time, I was writing some historical fiction and I used the characters within that for the different voices within the poem.
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Anarchy
PoetryAnarchy. A swirl of topics: emotions, allusions to history, social issues... And somewhere in the maelstrom comes forth rhymes and prose. Note: If you can't be bothered to read all the poems (quite understandably), I've starred the better ones.
