He’d paid someone else’s debt to society,
& when he’d found the man who owed him,
the debt was paid in full.

She lied to her lover, who avenged the alleged,
& there is no sadder tale
than the one of unintended consequences.

She could separate the oppressed he once was
from the oppressor he became,
but only he knew the moment he had crossed that line–
a line which separated them forever–
so that only the guilty would be punished.

Because of his nurture,
nature never had a chance.
To punish the guilty,
would be to go back generations.

It didn’t matter he was the last straw;
it mattered he was one of the straws that broke her,
for killing Abby had been a collaborative effort.