The Four Faces

________ I ________

I stood

within the quiet crowd
and saw the shadow fall ,

A cruel hand

s t r u c k

a helpless soul
against a stone-gray wall.

While others turned their eyes away
and fixed them to the floor,

The bleeding truth

b u r n e d

in my chest;
I. Could. Not. Ignore.


________ II ________

Fear had made men

STILL.

I stepped across

the rusted line

where fear had drawn its mark,


And met the heavy iron fist
with fierce and sudden will.

I drove the tyrant's hand away!
And broke the violent spell!

While all who watched from safer ground

convinced themselves


all's well.

___________ III ________

I turned to those entrusted with
the scales and written creed,

Found them bound by cautious hearts
where justice could not lead.

They weighed the cost of troubled peace
against a victim's cry,

And chose the calm of ordered wrong
while truth was left to die.

________ IV _______

Now all the world looks back at me
with judgment in their eyes,

They curse the hand that broke the hush
and call the silence wise.

Because I shattered false accord
To drag the monster down,

They placed the chains upon the just,

And gave the beast...

the

crown.


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