Poetry

Reuters photo

By

Ben White

Did They Read the Charges?

The Paul Manafort case

Has to face the facts

And man the fort

Against the attacks

Of legal malpractice

Conducted by his representation

As the adjudication in the court

Was the sort of circus

With reports in the press

Guilt confessed, and evasion

Pointing to fraud,

But behind the façade

His lawyers’ intent

Was to clear their client

Of collusion, so their confusion

Got him sentenced

To seven years in prison

With a clear decision

Handed down against the crimes

Outlined in the docket,

As the fees in their pocket

Were misspent,

And he was sent to jail

Based on the charges at hand

His attorneys didn’t seem

To understand

As they celebrated his guilt,

And built innocence

A defense against any accusations

Of working with the Russians

Forgetting the ten-year spree

Of lying and cheating,

Leading to the reading

Of his punishment

Handed down

Within the legal scope,

But, as they had hoped,

His lawyers were satisfied

They had cleared him

Of being a foreign agent –

In a case of bank fraud

And tax evasion…

Ben White

Author of the books, Buddha Bastinado Blues and The Kill Gene, Ben White thought he was a poet, only to find out he is not a poet at all. He is a witness. What he writes is testimony.