Miscarriage
by Stephen Lott
Written after learning of the verdict in a child-on-child rape.
Details were never meant to be exact.
A limited understanding of consent, he said
Low IQ and ADHD, he said
Did not want to criminalise these children unnecessarily, he said
Can’t be too judgmental after all they’d behaved well coped with the restrictions placed upon them throughout the trial
The scale of such injustice should shake us all
Anger should flow as freely as blood did from between her legs
They’d brought knives to subdue phones to film
egged each other on to depravity
tore her clothes exposed her tits to trolleys treated
her like detritus drowned not so deep in the canal
Low IQ and ADHD, he said
Not so lacking in focus that they didn’t plan
not so limited that they knew to bring knives –
they understood she would need to be subdued –
The filming was the ultimate two fingers
We’ll give you the evidence a slam-dunk guilty as fuck frolic
percentage for conviction rate
lower than fat in semi-skimmed
we’ll take our chances
Not so low IQ that they didn’t understand justice is male
mitigation from the judge himself
boys will be boys banter is banter
she led them on dressed sexy
signalled her sluttiness
gagged for it.
So, it’s not their fault
not really.
***
Steve is UK based and a teacher with a passion for poetry. When not writing, you are likely to find him at poetry events or in bookshops. Whilst all poetry is of interest, current favourites are Rudy Francisco and Patience Agbabi.
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