Some know me as “Consequence”,
others as “Justice”
and to some, I am “Judgement”.
I have, at times, been wrathful
and to the spiritual, my intervention is “Divine”.
I exist on both sides of every war,
I walk between battlefields,
like you walk through aisles at the market.
The carnage of righteous indignation,
or political dogmas
hold no interest for me;
I am merely the inevitable outcome
of certain decisions.
I have been called “Karma” in the East.
Few are the fortunate
who have not known my work,
though I would like it known
that I am not “The Judge”.
That seat sits much higher than I,
I merely carry out the sentence.
Some who have studied my work,
have noted my sense of humor,
to which, I am grateful;
after all,
I am the reason it was called
“The Divine Comedy”.
Effective consequences,
like comedy,
require excellent timing.
I am not without my critics.
There are many who ask of my employer,
“Why didn’t so-and-so get their just desserts?”
Most of the time,
people just want to see someone they don’t like
“Get theirs”,
but often there’s no real offence to punish,
just jealousy and petty differences.
Once in a while, though,
I’ll run into a truly evil bastard.
Some of them are tough to pin down
and they make it difficult to serve the writ,
but that’s where being an immortal,
non-corporeal entity has its perks.
I just have to wait
and when they’re on their deathbed,
I visit
and let them know that they did not escape me.
Not ideal for some people’s tastes, I know,
but we’re talking eternal damnation here,
so it is fitting.
I am not unknown by the righteous either,
though, by definition,
our meetings are less frequent
and frequently less severe.
It seems that earnest prayers for forgiveness
and a strong sense of guilt
actually go pretty far to lessening the wrath
of my employer,
but usually only the first time.
I visit the habitual offenders the most often.
Some daily,
some only once,
but it’s never pretty.
Human beings are capable of some heinous shit.
They do all kinds of harm to themselves
and to others
and they know I’m coming,
they know I will bear them harm,
they know who I work for…
… dark shit.
That’s why I have the sense of humor I do.
Gotta keep up a light heart and a smile,
or an eternity of visiting divine repercussions
on all of humanity for their deviant actions
would rapidly become depressing
and no one likes a mopey angel.
HG – 2016
