America

You face the judge,
he determines guilt
solely on wallets
Poor Richard has several
soiled Washington’s, no
credit cards, and an expired
driver’s license—a very
questionable person indeed
The other asshole has plenty
of Franklin’s, plus all the right
cards, including a passport
–now here’s a proper citizen!
It doesn’t matter that he drove
into our neighborhood from
the sanctity of some‘burb,
which ended with the assault
of a young woman behind
an East Side bar
Our hero,
intervened; being careful
not to leave marks
The police said, “good job
round boy,” they even gave
him a ride to his car
without the usual breath test
Poor Richard received a fine
for the ass kicking, and a thirty
day suspended sentence
He really took one for the team
today, but it doesn’t matter,
justice was served

Richard D. Houff,  currently lives and writes out of St. Paul, Minnesota. He has had poetry and prose published in Brooklyn Review, Chiron Review, Hudson Valley Writers Guild, Midwest Quarterly, North American Review, Osiris, Prairie Schooner, Trailer Park Quarterly, and many other fine magazines. His most recent collection Shaking Hands With The Dead, from Dead Man’s Press Ink.