AN EARLY MARTYR
by
William Carlos Williams
Rather than permit him
to testify in court
Giving reasons
why he stole from
Exclusive stores
then sent postcards
To the police
to come and arrest him
(if they could)
They railroaded
him
to an asylum for
The criminally insane
without trial.
The prophylactic
to
madness
Having been denied
him
he went close to
The edge out of
frustration and
Doggedness.
Inflexible, finally
they
had to release him:
The institution
was
'overcrowded'.
They let him go
in the custody of
A relative on condition
that he remain
Out of the state.
--
They 'cured' him
all
right
But the set-up
he fought against
Remains -
and his youthful deed
Signaling
the romantic period
Of a revolt
he served well
Is still good.
Let him be
a factory whistle
That keeps blaring
Sense, sense, sense!
so long as there's
A mind to remember
and a voice to
carry it on -
Never give up
keep at it!
Unavoided, terrifying
to such bought
Courts as he thought
to trust to but they
Double-crossed him.
