An Eye for an Eye: a poem and illustration by Leo Hartshorn

an eye for and eye
a tooth for a tooth
violence leads to violence
it's the God's honest truth

your the apple of mine
said the stepfather to the child
and the secret kept for years
has made the young man wild

The neighbors didn't bat one
and I don't mean a ball
when the man beat his wife
and the police were never called

for your two only
said the general to his assistant
showing pictures of the torture
of one who was resistant

pull the wool over ours
is what our leaders did
when they couldn't find the WMDs
and claimed that they were hid

a speck in someone else's
but you may not see
that you have one inside your own
that's bigger than a tree

the window of the soul
so people say
unless the shades are drawn
and the landlord's gone away