Don't Give Me Justice!

When the sentence for a crime is not quickly
carried out, the hearts of the people are filled with
schemes to do wrong. Although a wicked man
commits a hundred crimes and still lives a long time,
I know that it will go better with God-fearing men,
who are reverent before God. Yet because the
wicked do not fear God, it will not go well with them,
and their days will not lengthen like a shadow. Ecclesiastes8:11-13 NIV

It’s not FAIR!
Do you hear me? It’s not FAIR!
A defendant before the bench with five cases
pleads to one or two with dismissals
for the rest. What?
Commit one and get two free?
A bargain!
One judge gives twenty years,
another, ten probated for the
same
crime.
It’s not fair.
Me? I deserve three days
in an electric
chair.
It’s not fair any of us get lenience.
I get relief from fear,
freedom from guilt,
joie de vivre.Unrepentents feel that three days
every day.

Grace. Such a great gift, God.
I’m so glad you don’t give me justice.

A Time for Verse: Poetic Ponderings
on Ecclesiastes by Barbara B. Rollins