Evil

Evil oozed
From him as
He smiled at us
In the jury box too
Close for comfort as
We listened to his words
Of testimony as a witness
In a trial and I remembered
Joshing with my college class
At night in East Austin by the old
Abandoned projects that the
Travis County courthouse
Was the safest place for
Jail inmates since it is
Just above the court
Room where law
Guaranteed you
Were safe and
Sound when
One of my
Students
Who’d
Not
Spoken
All semester
Looked up and
Moved his football
Body wedged into a
Small desk to face forward
Saying in an audible grumble,
“You don’t sleep on your stomach
In the Travis County jail.” which
Made me even more aware of
The witness who oozed evil
And smiled at us in the
Jury box like a snake
Mesmerizes mice
Frozen in fear
As he slides
Forward to
Devour
Them.
To see
Evil up close
One must not
Forget that real
Evil is mundane,
Just someone
Sitting at an
Improvised
Desk in a
Field
Ticking
Off names
Of those before
Him to work or death
Just doing a job
Waiting for
Lunch.
So
Easy to
Think all evil
Oozes when the
Real, the worst evil
Is bureaucratically boring
Just an average person
Who has edged away
From their ethical
Compass a tick
At a time until
Far from the
Doing right,
One finds
Oneself
Inured
To
Evil
And thus
A part of evil.