come now, my brothers

my sisters, my friends. It is so easy
to pick up the first stone and cast it.
To declare proud and righteous, hand
on heart, that you have never been

tempted – standing before a crowd,
a host of cameras, with all the eyes
of the world upon you – to give one
exuberant Nazi salute. Follow it with

another. It’s an easy mistake to make,
a sweet seduction anyone could fall
prey to. In the words of the book, let
him/her/they who is without sin, cast

that first stone. And then – brothers,
sisters, friends – then, when you have
got your eye in, be sure to cast it good
and hard. Hard and true. Again and often.

© Steve Pottinger 21 Jan 2025