At the trial,
they submitted my poetry
as tangible evidence
of evil.

The prosecution,
despite an inability to pronounce many of the words,
read aloud my foul verse,
causing several women to swoon.

My attorney packed up and left, sneering:
"You're on your own now... Poet."

Aghast, the court decreed
that I undergo radical cardioectomy.

"Remove the heart,
and you remove the medium in which evil breeds,"
testified Dr. Seward, under Hippocratic oath.
"Technically not an exorcism, but it works."

So per federal sentencing guidelines for maladapted poets...

They gutted my rotten innards
and immediately dispatched the offending organ
for incineration
at a State Facility.

I'm much better now.

As is
my
poetry,

the coarse language
significantly mitigated...
Never again shall I say, "whore" or "lesion."
(Certainly not in the same sentence.)

And to compensate for my heart's untimely extraction,
they've subjected me to high doses
of pathos
injected directly into my soul.

I'm not sure, but I think this guarantees me a place in heaven.