dear parent
parents
the financial officers
at budget and planning
have concluded
imprisonment of your child’s rapist
would place an inordinate burden on the state
please note that the average yearly cost
of such an action
would be 25,000 dollars
multiply that over a life-sentence
of the
accused
well as you can clearly see
life terms for this type of crime
are unreasonable
further meta-data analysis
indicates that monitoring the sex offender
over a similar period of time
would also be
well
quite costly in terms of financial factors
and
manpower hours
consider if you will that
the average cost of a traditional funeral
is approximately $7300
a cost
we would be more than willing
to provide
as a tax credit
Read Between the Minds 
Mandatory death sentence, bring it on!
Stunning piece of writing.
oo na lang,
Brilliant. Is that your voice reading the poem? The reading is excellent too – like a computer 🙂
Ah…yes that is my voice doing the reading. Thanks for your comments.
I second Cindy’s view… No one has any right to play with other’s integrity and that too a child…Na
I second Cindy’s view… No one has any right to play with other’s integrity and that too a child…Nahh!!
Interesting to see it put that way-bet life&death calculations are made like that more than we realize.
Pen as sword, poem as weapon. The best kind of poetry!
This just takes my breath away – like being slammed in the chest. Oh, my. . .
Charles at his very best! I love it when you’re passionate! 😉
These people can never be rehabilitated. I completely agree that the death penalty is the only solution for this type of evil creature, but first we have to remove these same sick individuals from the benches they sit on in court rooms when they don their black robes. On behalf of many who have suffered in this regard, I thank you for writing this heavy dose of justice reality slpmartin.
Before one takes any action in life, they need to be aware of the consequences. Some people just do not get it. Powerful message. 🙂
I love how u tackle such serious issues. Great read…
You know, it’s strange. Before I read the other comments, I took the ending as meaning that the state would fund the funeral of the child who was raped and maybe badly hurt or killed in the process.
After reading the comments, I understood the meaning that you’d probably intended to send across. It’s just that I’m so used to rapists getting away with a fine or a very short sentence that I thought you were commenting on that.
Rapid Applause, Rapid applause. I have written many on this subject, perhaps I should visit it again soon.
Castration is cheap too….
money can’t buy dignity , life and death .an interesting issue Matin, well done .
It’s an excellent poem that’s actually inline with how I imagine these kind of decisions are made. I’ve been noticing that your poems remind me of the visual interpretation of sound seen in audio recording programs. After hearing you read it, it sounded exactly as it looked to me. Was this a conscience choice, to have these two elements blend together, or was that just coincidence?
When I read a poem my primary hope is that I can through my reading …add another dimension to the poem…one which conveys the mood and tone of the poem. As for “the visual interpretation of sound seen in audio recording programs” I’m not sure what you mean…could you give me an example.
Just a random screen shot of adobe audition. The green is how they show the sound.
Thanks…I haven’t used that software…although I have most adobe products somewhere on one of these computers…thanks so much for letting me know about it. I may just order a copy. 😉
awesome comment. I never thought to look at the visual audio representation. Funny how that worked out here. Thanks for the idea. Sue
I found the tone you used to be solid for the subject matter, the conversational mimic in your words carried very nicely.
I think it’s rare for poets to manage keeping to a stylized piece and not lose themselves in the language. Nicely done.
It’s amazing what we, as taxpayers, spend on the inhumane nightmares of this world, even though the nightmares never cease. This poem really spells out the incongruities that are never resolved and the feeling of grief (anger?) that comes with this. So, so sad. Heartspell
Very interesting piece of work. Reads off very bluntly, yet this adds to the whole concept of the poem:) I like it.
Federal Budget Cuts – oh too bad!!!
Thanks Charles
straight to the point *shudder* well done!
Definitely an attention grabbing commentary on how fiscal constraints lead to decisions that most would consider unthinkable.
There is a distinct heartless tone to the piece (I haven’t heard your reading yet. My child is sleeping) that only years of organizational bureaucracy could duplicate.
Congrats on an excellent piece.
I read this at least 3 times already. Years ago, in a graduate writing seminar, a classmate told me that reading each line of one of my pieces was like a punch LOL I know what my classmate meant…after reading this, a few other of your poems, I felt like someone just kicked me in the eye — at least three times, no less. hahah. Nicely done, powerfully written.
http://jingleyanqiu.wordpress.com/2010/05/24/the-celebrate-poet-of-april-award-announcement-and-more/
awards.
have fun!
You strike me speechless.. just bring me to the eyes of the children in many places on third world’s countries, especially in mine.
I like in this poem how you capture a deluded system that provides a since of justice only when its within budgetary means. This makes me think of the US Census agent that was a registered sex offender.
Hadn’t hear that story, but would have woven into the poem somehow…maybe another poem sometime…thanks for your comments.
i love this piece
Some days my entire political action is reading your poetry. You continue to amaze me with your stamina. I see you all over the web too….reading and commenting. A girl can’t keep up. Great piece. Sue
to desecrate innocence is to call into the wind for death to come and sing his sweat song-just sayin man as a heathen i am unrepentant in my need to see justice pay its savage call-in this case-
gracefully inclined head your gift is phenomenal and handling well done