335 and 336 (a double sonnet)

I voted for the penalty for this.

I chose to guard the law on which it’s set.

I do not, any arguments dismiss,

and yet, cannot ignore the present debt.

Though I would offer up some mercy here,

and set aside all punishment for most,

I must, judgement, allow; and, too, adhere,

despite whate’er emotions I may host.

Do not think less to be a slave to law,

for good is willing—though it is quite hard.

We must not, new whims, on our ledgers, draw

whenever they might leave us cruelly scarred.

And since there is no fault for law itself

I offer up, and implicate, myself~

But fear our judge, for punishment is his,

as he leans down from off his risen stand,

down to the dock where all my guilt now is,

and notices my trembling heart and hand.

He grips me now, and tells me to look on,

and see how, too, he trembles just as I.

Confused, intrigued? My fear, for now, is gone,

as he convinces me to meet his eye.

Says he, “I never loved to deal the law.

I’d rather be amidst the gallery.

Would you find, in my sentence, fault or flaw

if you endured your penalty with me?”

So we two shared the cell built just for me,

and halved the jury’s sentence and its fee.