Sagepaper

I was often upset and obsessed about Timmy's plight, and being helpless to assist him. On January 15, 2001, I was too upset to write poetry, yet was sitting at an IHOP so I could write. It would be hours before my husband was supposed to return for me. Although the others in my daily life shared my certainty of his innocence, I got no support from them. His alleged crime, the violent and incestuous rape of a little girl, was simply too taboo for anyone to want to contemplate. His innocence did not make the topic the least bit less aversive. Unfortunately, he was my friend, and I could not simply turn my mind aside.

I needed to break my troubled daze in order to write. I realized that I also needed to get some of this stuff off my chest. I accomplished both by composing the following:

January 15, 2001 -- Untitled #1

Timmy's doing time for rape
They said he forced his daughter
Gun in hand and mouth agape
Incompetent his lawyer

Truth be known 'twas Sue that forced
The little girl to purger
Blaming Daddy for the worst
'Twas Sue that sold her mergers

Sue was hooked on heroin
And Ashley's youthful body
Well, the money was therein
On loan, she'd please somebody

Shameless Sue would let them beat
The nine-year-old they'd rented
Stunned was Sue when County Seat
No longer was contented.

CPS had never cared
About the screams reported
Twenty Seven years unspared
She'd get her Ex she snorted

I would welcome any suggestions for punctuation of any of my poems posted. I know how I would punctuate this if it were prose, but punctuation can sometimes affect a poem's meter. Robert Service, whose work I greatly admire, uses punctuation in his meter to good effect. I fear, unfortunately, that incorporating punctuation into my writing is beyond my skill level. I am pleased simply to have gotten to where I usually write poems with the words lacking flaws in meter. Editing poetry to fix such errors is a challenge I sometimes enjoy, and sometimes do not. Often, it is more important to me to preserve my original sentiment than it is to make a piece presentable.

Perhaps, in some future post, I will explain my view of the ethics of 'brutal writing."