Of Probable Cause
Suspects are from Venus,
and the police are from Mars,
nevertheless, they arrived in two cars,
an old man was the suspect,
and they just wanted to ground and pound,
it was going to be an exaggerated escort
for that old smoke-hound,
their reasons for suspecting the old man fell short,
either way, someone will end up in court,
the police hurried in without even a pause,
knowing they had no legal requirements
of probable cause,
as they streamed in like a morning current,
and there was no search and seizure warrant
signed by a judge,
they just held a grudge,
and that, the old man knew,
but the Mars attack had just about the right
number to perform a plain-view,
the more eyes, the better,
the old man didn’t know what to do,
his eyes red,
as he moaned and shook his head,
the law failed to translate,
as the old man tried to formulate
an argument from a series of seemingly
unrelated syllables,
but the lead officer made it clear,
as he dangled the fear,
like a carrot at the end of a stick,
and that was part of the trick,
the anger grew,
so the old man stuttered,
as the other detectives slid past the two,
and began moving slowly through
a fetid, three room apartment, cluttered,
searching without a legal clause,
and there was no probable cause.
© 2011 Frank Atanacio