The Case Of William Smith

William holds his palm out proud

Upon the bible, lays it down

And solemnly swears against it

That every word is true

Searching through the faceless crowd

In the hallowed auditorium

He sees that everyone is turned against him

And his endless pursuit

The saga that he spells out

Has mothers grabbing children

Grown men twisting mustaches

As priests smooth out their suits

But william hammers right along

And ignores the banging gavel of

The judges plea for order

In the chaos of the room

Outside my cell

There is an oak that grows

Through the fence line

And towards the sun

They built a barrier of barbs

Flush butted against its bark

And still its burls unfurled

Into branches strong

The silver thorns that hem in my hole

Snare me here through sun and snow

While barbs may scar

They cannot stop the mighty oak

Burgeoning upward and out

Disfigured no doubt

The persistent sapling made stout

By its daggered escape route

Once it finally stands tall

Its limbs will make the fence fall

The slowest getaway car

That the guard ever saw

The warden scratches his bald patches

And raises arms in the air

He wonders how this happened

Despite decades to prepare

In this I found the faith

That you'd see my sentence a mistake

Discharge me from this place

And reinstate me in your grace

The truth will set you free one day

My father promised me

But I'd never thought

The truth would come this way, quite honestly

William holds his palm out proud

Upon the bible, lays it down

And solemnly swear against it

That every word is true

Searching through the faceless crowd

In the hallowed auditorium

He sees that everyone is turned against him

And his endless pursuit

If you had told me back then

That the words from my pen

Would've branded me a paynim

I would never changed a damn thing

I am sure it's shocking to your ears

That the treaties you revere

Would suffer such assessment

At the stylus of confrére

But I am more than well aware

How you all were unprepared

To stare into the sun

As it means to pick apart its flares

With my covenant in question

And career upon the line

I will suffer your reckless sanctions

With the clarity of mind

That the charges that you lay

Against my character of faith

Will burden you with shame

When you face the presumed paradise

And he knows, well as I

That his heralds can carol flat songs

The refrains ring familiar

But the words just seem a tad wrong

God is just a breath away

He lives a kiss from your lips

But his message can mutate

As it drifts from mount to chisel tips

So this is it

My suffrage sings its swan song

Your suspicions set me sovereign

From the restriction of your sad bonds

While you edit me from existence

For continuity

May the lord be always in your footsteps

To document your lunacy

William holds his palm out proud

Upon the bible, lays it down

And solemnly swears against it

That every word is true

Searching through the faceless crowd

In the hallowed auditorium

He sees that everyone is turned against him

And his endless pursuit

The saga that he spells out

Has mothers grabbing children

Grown men twisting mustaches

As priests smooth out their suits

But william hammers right along

And ignores the banging gavel of

The judges plea for order

In the chaos of the room