verdict

verdict  (from the trial)

exhibit 10

all rise   standing against a wall

while the jury look away

or at their blank hands recoil

the sun coming up behind the trees

and the light just so just for that moment

and you know it will pass   seconds

less than minutes   an age

not a lifetime but a life parsed   punctuated

the gavel knocking thin nails of silence into the pinned

paper heart delivering the coup de grâce