Hammer Poem by Gary Revel

I used a hammer and a nail to fix
a board on my fence in my front yard.
I've heard it said that, 'Good fences
make good neighbors'.

As I was driving the nail into the wood
I remembered how
Johnny Brookson's Dad
had driven the
claws
of a
hammer
into his
wife's head.

She had died from the repeated blows
that crushed her skull into her brain.
Even more horrible was the fact that he
also killed Johnny and his sister Clara.

The four of us had been approaching 12
years of age and the best of friends.
My sister Kate and I never forgot the
horror of the day we heard about it.

20 years later I read in the newspaper
that Johnny's Dad had been executed in
a prison by the State of Florida.

For some strange reason I felt sorry for
the fellow. Is an evil man always evil
or only when he is engaged in an evil act?
I wonder do you?