In "A Fool's Usual Punishment," the thoughts of a man struggling to get over heartbreak, addiction, and hopelessness come clear. The punishment for his lack of ability to learn from his mistakes becomes quite routine. Usual even. A Fool's Usual Punishment is a play on words with the phrase cruel and unusual punishment.
The Guillotine
Like burnt toast
Blackened and scraped
I can still be used
Though my soul has been raped
I am terminally ill
And I’m begging to die
I’m in debt to my past
I beg you hear me my cries
I’ve been sold to the flame
Upon the hatred and blame
It’s the Sirens last chorus
To my guillotine remorse
When the guilt passed the test
In the waking hours of rest
There is mass execution
Of my best contribution
I’m seen only as evil
My heaven is dead
My home is a shambles
So like this letter you have read
Lost lives
Through childish lies
These are demons that rise
Under cemetery shines
My head is on trial
The town barrows down
They sharpen the blade
And interrogate my shame
My charges in question
Only seconds too late
As that free falling silver
Reached my throat; my escape
Continues...
Excerpted from "A Fool's Usual Punishment" by Gregory Allen Tracy. Copyright © 2016 by Gregory Allen Tracy. Excerpted by permission. All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher. Excerpts are provided solely for the personal use of visitors to this web site.
Gregory Allen Tracy
Poet from Boulder, CO focused on disclosing the very subtlties of self awareness, sadness, and the purest of emotions.
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