They put him in jail for the thing he'd done, <br />For that was the law they'd made; <br />They turned the key on his youth till he <br />The price of his crime had paid. <br />And the wise judge said as he sentenced him, <br />And spoke from the facts he knew: <br />'The deed was yours, and the wide outdoors <br />No longer belongs to you.' <br /> <br />Oh, it isn't so long ago there went <br />A toddling lad of three <br />At the close of day for a bit of play <br />Astride of his father's knee. <br />And the father scowled and sent him off. <br />'Go play with the lads outside, <br />Don't bother me with your pranks,' said he; <br />And he sneered when the youngster cried. <br /> <br />And the father went to his work all day <br />And went to his bed at night, <br />And he gave no heed to the baby's need <br />Nor shared in the lad's delight. <br />He never knew who his playmates were, <br />Nor followed him off to school, <br />But in manner grim he punished him <br />Whenever he broke the rule. <br /> <br />Midnight came not so long ago <br />And the youngster was not in bed, <br />But the father slept while the mother kept <br />The watch that all mothers dread. <br />And whenever the mother spoke of him <br />Through the long black hours of night, <br />As the cold wind howled the father growled: <br />'Don't worry, the boy's all right.' <br /> <br />Society said at the end of things! <br />'The doer of crime must pay; <br />In a grated cell we'll make him dwell, <br />Shut in from the light of day.' <br />But I like to think that the Judge on High <br />Who rights all our earthly wrongs <br />At another time, will fix that crime <br />Exactly where it belongs.<br /><br />Edgar Albert Guest<br /><br />http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/fixing-the-shame/
