It Was Long Past Time to Prune the Tree

A few bad apples, 

they said

Apples laced with poison,

apples that kill

Apples left 

in the barrel,

long after we 

noticed their rot

Protected by the other apples,

who rally around them,

declaring poison is

standard apple procedure

Protected by 

qualified apple immunity 

to the laws of the land

Protected by a society

that too often looked away,

or found a flaw with

how the victim chewed

once upon the past,

or simply disliked

the color of their teeth

The poison 

lingering, festering,

dripping onto the 

apples below,

waiting for the next 

unsuspecting bite

The other apples claim

the bad ones wouldn’t

have killed if you had

been in better health

You should have been able 

to withstand the poison

Written June 6, 2020