Over Coffee, 600 B.C.

A friend of mine told me — 
so I know it’s true — 
she saw someone in the road 
behind her house 
last night. He stumbled, 
made a lot of noise. Yelled 
obscenities. A drunk. When he 
called for help, she shut her door. 
Locked it. And so would I 
have locked my door 
if some drunk had bothered me. 

Anyway, this morning 
when she looked around 
she found the man 
lying in the alley — 
without his head. 
She brought a sheet to cover him — 
the only decent thing to do — 
even though he was a drunk. 
Then she noticed he’d been robbed. 
His sword 
and breastplate — gone. 

But I told her 
what my mother always says, 
two wrongs don’t make a right, 
and she agreed. 
But now the problem is 
a madman roams the streets. 
There’s no way to know 
what he’ll do next. 
I hope he’s caught and put to death 
before he kills again and disturbs 
us decent people of Jerusalem.