At a general public meeting

At a general public meetingThey decided, on reflectionTo replace the penal systemWith a simple lead injectionSome people stood and arguedThat shooting was too good“Just take them from the court roomAnd hang ‘em in the wood”Some others had their own ideasOn criminals like muggers“Drag them to the riverAnd drown the little buggers”Then, the voice of reasonPersuaded quite a fewThat treating prisoners this wayWas not the thing to do“We’ll keep them in their prison cellsAll cosy, dry and warm,With lots of cash and man hoursThey’ll hopefully reform,But should this method fail to workAnd progress not be madeWe’ll take ‘em to the prison yardAnd beat ‘em with a spade” ã John W Fenn 26-03-2009

— shazbat, Mar 27, 2009

About This Poem

About the Author

Region, Country: Norfolk, UK, GBR

Favorite Poets: Kipling, T.S Eliot, Hilaire Belloc, Ogden Nash, Spike Milligan and many more.

Critiques

themoonman

17 years 2 months ago

John...

I do so love the rhythm in your voiced poems... this one, although humorous, is quite the serious look at us... makes one doubt some of the voices of reason.... enjoyed Richard

shazbat

17 years 1 month ago

Richard, I do some work for

Richard, I do some work for the prison/probation service and come into contact with some unsavoury types, I know a lot of people won't agree but I think we'd be better off if they were disappeared, thanks for reading. Regards John

Tonya

17 years 1 month ago

I agree with Richard here.

I agree with Richard here. Although it is a humerous write, it does make one wonder at the voice of reason. Prisoners certainly have it pretty cushy in these state of the art prisons. Perhaps is the business it generates. If the recidivism rate were not so high i wouldn't argue the outcome..but, as it stands far to many keep returning again and again. I do like this style you write it. It flows along seamlessly. This poem gives us some meat to chew on. Always Sincere, Tonya

shazbat

17 years 1 month ago

Tonya, as far as I recall

Tonya, as far as I recall (excluding government bodies)there are 27 organisations in England that are purely for the benefit of offenders, whereas, there are only 2 for the victims of crime, this seems a little out of kilter to me. I recently spent 3 months working in a military prison and to be honest it seemed pretty easy going to me, in fact had I been an inmate I would certainly not be complaining. Anyway, thanks for reading I hope it gave you some food for thought, Regards John

Tonya

17 years 1 month ago

I studied

I studied Sociology/psychology in college. We had some criminology classes that really were interesting. But you are right, criminals are given more rights than the victims. I believe it stems to trying to make sure an innocent person is not wrongfully condemned. But, it still happens and the victims are still left with very little. Soooooo many times i am just floored when a particulary heinous crime has been committed and the criminal goes free due to some technicality. so unfair. I don't understand "justice" sometimes. Wish i knew the answers to fix it. lol