I Don’t Want Vengeance

I don’t want vengeance, I just want him dead.
I only want the world to be a place
Where decent people have a decent space
To live their own lives and to earn their bread,
And make sure all the starving poor are fed.
Somebody ought to look him in the face,
Insisting on the truth, his fall from grace:
I don’t want vengeance. That’s not what I said.

I’ve been a calming presence with my friends
Until this afternoon. My eyes rolled back
So far into my head, the sky turned black
And I decided I should make amends.
I tell you, vengeance won’t pay dividends
So that’s not what I want. You’ve gone off track.