Judgment

PUBLIC DOMAIN PHOTOS:  Credits appear below

Judgment

Guilty.  He

never saw it coming

(wrong place, wrong time), this

black masked bandit

crept from the dark,

stepped into headlamp glare,

stopped, stared,

rose up and froze, showing only

eyes – glinting light

at the height of a toddler;

too late to brake, insufficient space,

tight swerve, a percussive thud

(thump, lump in gut and throat)

catapulted to the curb;

only a moment of brief relief at the realization –

no child, but a beast, (nightly marauder,

pilferer of garbage cans and bird feeders) –

before traffic resumed,

cars once again passing without pause.

Everyone going somewhere…

else.  (Too busy. Too late. Nothing to be done.)

Did any wonder what became of him?

~

Guilty.  She

stole things at night,

breaking and entering,

thinking (perhaps), no one would know or care.

It was cold, the house – warm, inviting.

Who would miss this

 crust of bread, that

bit of chocolate?  But

she was wrong; she didn’t belong here;

her welcome -- just an illusion.

The intrusion detected,

traps were baited, set,

entrances sealed.

She was snagged, bagged,

(still clinging, barely, to life),

and summarily disposed of. 

~

 Guilty. This squatter

did nothing wrong, only

set up housekeeping

outside in the open air,

beside my own back door.  

Huge, hairy, scary and

a tad too close for comfort.

Silken lines stretched, spanned

from window to basement bulkhead.

This would never do, so

heavy handed with an aerosol can

(staying a wary distance away)

I dispatched the intruder,

leaving the body dangling –

not bold enough

to approach so close.

~

Regrets came later.

(They always do.)

~

Manslaughter, entrapment,

premeditated murder.

Guilty.

PSC/2014

  
Penned for Creative Bloomings prompt #145: Nothing for Granted


Public Domain photo credits:

mouse: 

raccoon:

spider: