The Judge said:
\"In honour of true civilisation,
the death penalty hereby
stands abolished.\"
The crowd cheered in the streets.
Activists claimed victory.
Subzero temperatures—
snow fell through the night.
The morning newspaper
carried a small item:
how many had died
while sleeping rough.
They slept rough—
now in a dignified sleep,
on the morgue’s shelves.
Silent pronoucement of death
on the poor-
isn\'t it civilisation\'s true essence?