Poets of convenience
reality to sway
A stain that lasts forever
excuses not parlayed

“Thou Shalt Not ****” long spoken
ancient law upon the land
Religious, secular, or more’ bound
the truth has one command

A billion screaming babies
by curettes scraped away
As smug self-righteous killers
demand to have their way

The pathway to eternity
lined with voices put to death
“Thou Shalt Not ****” their epitaph
—damning your last breath

(St. Josephs University: September, 1972)