Crime, Emotion, and Sorrow – Unclean Hands
Have you found yourself there?
The place, with the thing
That guy or girl, or those guys and girls
Twos, threes, sometimes more
Keeping secrets, avoiding questions
One thing leads to another…
Stories ever-changing, evolving
Hear me now, forget all else
Shame leads to heartbreak
Lies lead to lies which lead to lies
Keeping them straight an option
Every word said with caution
Some hands will never be clean
Maybe it’s the allure of the green
Money tight but it’s in plain sight
No one’s watching or keeping count
One dollar becomes ten and then twenty
Theft is habit forming, just ask a thief
Perhaps information is the game
Documents exchanged in alleyways
Microchips, thumb drives, pictures
Faces buried deep within upturned collars
Hat pulled low and dark glasses
Contemplation over guilt
Sleepless nights, emotions spent
Replaced by the icy cold of nothingness
Marketing secrets that aren’t your own
Pay the ticket and you’ll be shown
Confidential today is tomorrow’s news
Who’s watching who and why?
Malefactor is my name, or maybe it’s not
Remorse; just thinking about it for now
Easily distracted by what’s around
Unattended riches catch the eye
Slip on over and slip on by
So easy that a child could do it
What’s the harm in it?
Weakness is often called a sin
Human beings turned on a whim
Cheating, Lying, Stealing, Crime
Every occurrence strips more feeling
A husk, a shell, a mere form remains
Empty vessel entrenched in a game
Living in a seven ten split
Odds are that most will miss
The parasitic underbelly of the world
Pulls some down, keep’s ahold
Deceitful acts stacked like cordwood
Little time to think of good
Willpower the solution or so it’s said
Make the break or end up dead
Eulogy a work of fiction
Said aloud without conviction
A life of crime leading to eviction
- When We Lost Control - October 13, 2025
- The Crumbling Space Around Me - October 10, 2025
- Sorrow - October 9, 2025

Very well phrased and interesting poem, Ralph. Well done.
Some great and tight phrasing with wonderful imagery Ralph, of that human frailty of self-gain and negative choices. It flows so nicely while, exacting those hideous acts of criminality that can eventuate on such a path. great work