Two Counts of Aggravated Assault
The jurors were downright fascinated
by the 90 year old man,
who was a picture of both anger and fear
on the witness stand,
and what kept filling his head,
were the last words his wife said,
in god’s absence
we must learn to cope,
because life at any age
is worth a shred of hope.
He pointed to the boys
who murdered his wife without care,
his testimony was laced with tears,
recounting the details of what the defendant called
some shocking spasm of random violence,
but he was certain that it was them,
pistol whipped his 85 year old wife
at a local ATM,
the defendant argued
that she was at the end of her life,
she was old,
his words were monosyllabic and cold,
and they rushed out of his mouth faster
and faster,
he was the grand master
of a pathetic parade of human misery,
that just kept calling him,
very grim,
then after the deliberation,
the air felt thin
and the verdict came in,
guilty on two counts of aggravated assault,
in other words,
cause of death
wasn’t their fault.
© 2012 Frank Atanacio