Accessory Before and After

 

 

Accessory before

And after the fact,

Charged for knowingly assisting

But ignorant of the act.

 

My criminal record

Had now begun

And I was totally unaware

Of what I had done.

 

I could get a lawyer

Or be given one:

This trouble didn’t even set up

Like a coming storm.

 

Out of the clear blue

A knock on my door

And from that very moment

I had peace no more. 

 

I was fingered;

That I had been told,

What the word actually meant

I didn’t even know.

 

But having found out

I could only deny

But they would not accept

My truthful alibi.

 

I was not there,

I did not know what

But with all of my explaining

It didn’t mean squat.

 

What a nightmare

But how surreal!

Somebody had dealt me

A really bad deal.

 

I came to find out

The chief witness:

The very one that planted me

In this mess.

 

He was charged

For the very act

And named me his accessory before

And after the fact.

 

He was going down

But wasn’t going alone

Though he had committed the act

And did so on his own.

Using the directory

He came on a name,

When I heard this, I could only say

He had to be insane.

 

The law had no choice

But to come after me

For since my name was called

They had a duty.

 

He had chosen a name

From in his district,

It is amazing how a criminal

Uses his wits.

 

 

He did not know me

From diddlysquat

But I believe he was desperate

After he was caught.

 

Allowed to call someone

He fingered me

As his fingers did the walking

In the directory.

 

 

Remember that Ad?

Two fingers after the thumb

Walking down the directory page?

Boy, wasn’t he dumb!

 

And you too

If you believe this,

It would not only be a few screws

But a whole brain you miss.

 

I started writing

With nowhere to go,

It was on Independence Day

Before the parade show.

 

What is the probability

Of this actually happening?

I tell you, should this ever occur

It would be shocking.

 

I started with a title

That sounded great

And then I wrote a narrative

Tempting fate.

 

Like A Day at the Beach

When I’d never gone

But there was only one topic

And it was this one.

 

 

Use your imagination

Is what Mam would say

So, this is my excuse for my poem

On Independence Day. 

 

Stewart Russell © November 30, 2024