Guilty
Thomas Turner
I feel the flames under my feet.
I burn in the middle of the street.
I am surely not guilty of
what you have accused me of.
I only want to live – to love,
to teach an alternate way;
not just the medicine of today.
We live in such dark times.
We suffer such awful crimes.
What gives you the right
to burn me this dark night?
To judge me for what I believe
on this black All Hollow’s Eve?
You beat me until I submit.
You blatantly force me to admit
to being something that I am not.
Now my body has become so hot.
You have tortured me to death,
until I have taken my last breath.
So I say goodbye to you all
as my flesh burns, as my bones fall.