The Portrait (National Poetry Month Poem-A-Day) Day 2
The Portrait (A Lawsons Murder Ballad)
written by Bruce A. Pandolfo
4/2/17
An
injured Charlie Lawson's
Tobacco
tender bought
Children's
toys and pricey clothes,
for
his family to be shot...
The
rustic regal-garbed group,
expressions
grave although
Marie
gleamed with teen beauty,
and
perhaps a mother's glow?
A
pretty penny portrait,
portrayed
for holidays,
Foreshadowed
short-changed futures
for
the family he betrayed
One read “No one
to blame but...”
abrupt there-ends
the note
The other scrawled
“Troubles Can Cause...”
shown with those
snuffed and smote...
A fortnight from the photo,
when Christmas Day arrived
Fanny baked a Yuletide cake,
that no one lived to try
Arthur asked his Pa for shells
to go and hunt some hare
Charles spared and sent him off
as though he'd none to spare
Art returned to find his ma,
and slain siblings arranged,
Gored, respectfully laid out
with love of one deranged,
When they found Charlie
Lawson,
whose shotgun took him
too
The madly scratched
epistles
in red pockets held no
clues
One read “No one
to blame but...”
abrupt there-ends
the note
The other scrawled
“Troubles Can Cause...”
shown with those
snuffed and smote...
Their bloodstained hands were folded
stone pillows 'neath their heads
Opportunistic Lawsons,
toured the scene for a few cents
The rumor mill in Stokes buzzed,
what stokes a man to snuff
His kin, innocent bloodline
lied down and lined with blood
A Bloody Christmas tragedy,
gave Meaning to Our Tears
The curious lure of lore explored
for more than four score years
When they found Charlie
Lawson,
whose shotgun took him
too
The madly scratched
epistles
in red pockets held no
clues
One read “No one
to blame but...”
abrupt, there ends
the note
The other scrawled
“Troubles Can Cause...”
shown with those
snuffed and smote...
Here is the actual portrait taken in 1929 of the doomed Lawson Family
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