Algiers 'The Violent Bear it Away'

Of course my debt to Flannery O'Connor is great...

She was young,
Ingenuous,
Her mouth formed catechisms,
Her body invited lust,
She dreamt of marriage idyllic,
Recoiled from sin she thought endemic,
From without,
Some boys from school,
Coaxed her to their favorite place,
They took her there,
Down by the lake,
Mixing her blood with the water,
They painted a landscape,

"The violent bear it away,"
it read,
then the newspaper listed the names of the innocent,

The violent bear it away,
but it could not reconcile their intent,

He was there,
But not directly involved,
Determined guilty,
While the others were absolved,
They said he's possessed,
Of melanin,
Years later set free,
Plagued by his sin,
So he took a wife and child,
Facing self-doubt,
To his co-workers an exception,
His friends a sellout,
So he stole to his room one day,
With a gun and a clenched fist,
And his head against the wall,
He painted a canvas.

r. mahan