‘The One Lone Juror’: A Poem by Joseph S. Salemi

The One Lone Juror

—for the very brave man who refused to acquit Lindsay Clancy
of the crime of murdering her three small children

You did not listen to the whines and pleas—
You did not let emotion blind your vision.
Like one small ship, storm-tossed on raging seas,
You held your course and rudder with precision.
How could you do otherwise? The rest
Were lemmings, governed by the monthly moon,
And by a lawyer’s rhetoric, his chest
Swollen to bursting, like a gas balloon.

They hungered to obey the current fashion—
To go along with what the neighbors think.
They confused cold murder with mad passion
And hoped to drag you to a cliffside brink
Where you’d fall off and join in with the circus
Of happy, sweet agreement with their lies.
Instead you answered “No one here can jerk us
Into a vote for something we despise.”

Of course, you’re now a target. Fairly quick,
Your name will be leaked out and then revenge
Will come to visit you, with every trick
Of nasty retribution, to avenge
The lost acquittal that the lemmings sought.
They’ll smear your name, harass your family.
You’ll learn that peace of mind is dearly bought
When once you cross left-wing society.

But what of that? They cannot touch your spirit,
Nor change your fixed decision, or what’s true.
Don’t second-guess, or wobble on a pivot,
And say that murder shouldn’t get its due.
You stood your ground, and told the raging pack
That “feeling bad,” and other lame excuses
Don’t deserve a nice pat on the back
When kids are strangled with elastic nooses.

Joseph S. Salemi has published five books of poetry, and his poems, translations and scholarly articles have appeared in over one hundred publications world-wide.  He is the editor of the literary magazine TRINACRIA and writes for Expansive Poetry On-line. He teaches in the Department of Humanities at New York University and in the Department of Classical Languages at Hunter College.