A Tragedy, A Travesty Poem by Valerie Lennox

The beast stumbles
Knees buckle and as it gasps
The buzz of a chainsaw fills the night air with
Raucous screech and birds desert their roost
Triumphant the shadows slip away
Swallowed by the deathly silence once regained
Of the bush
And somewhere far away the greedy rub their hands
In anticipation of the riches to come from the foolish
Who believe in the myth

The needle slips in
The plunger empties is poison
The sigh as the onlookers turn away
And the chemicals travel in deadly purpose
Triumphant the shadows slip away
Swallowed by the receding prison walls
She is gone
And somewhere far away the mourning wring their hands
In grief for the daughter who was fooled
And believed she was innocent

Damned and executed, both
By the same multi-headed monster that is slowly
Yet surely
Creeping across the African plains
And in its path leaves the bloody carcasses of the Rhino
Picked at by vultures
And scatters cheap trinkets and knock-off designer jeans
Picked up by bargain hunters