Unremitting

He squints with a pepper in his iris
like the devil on a weekend reprieve
testing liberty from beyond the fringe.
Nobody tells him to tame his virus;
they just expect him to gravely bereave
before they infect him with that syringe.

Just at the moment conscience starts slipping,
faces transform behind forces pliant
in a limbo pageant of friends long dead
with voices to peak his rebel tripping.
They ask him why he’s been so defiant
to these vermin yanking to snap his thread.

To those delivering this grim sentence
in service to the benevolent state
confusion slithers through those wired jaws.
The priest swears witnessing some repentance,
yet the executioner gets irate
when the inmate boldly declares, “Because!”

Fay Slimm
Fantastically vivid picture of the unrepentant -- peppered as it is John with innovative phrasing it makes an arresting read.

Chaos1214
Ha ha... You know what makes the unrepentent so irritating? That one in a million chance that they might be right. A much appreciated piece.