Why?

Why
did the young mother
clad in a soft blue cotton skirt
with starched white summer blouse
sitting at the dark oak defense
table near the juror’s box
reject the generous
plea bargain offer,
because white nodding blossoms
watching from branches outside
the courthouse window
winked at her,
because proclaiming guilt
for a horrendous crime that
she did not commit was
incomprehensible
because she still believed
blind Lady Justice was not
also deaf and dumb,
because white men in dark suits
exuded confidence that they
jurors would judge liars
for what they were,
because her innocent children
had lost their Daddy and
she couldn’t bear leaving
them herself
as orphans,
because those
winking white blossoms
lied?


Patty Prewitt
April 11, 2008