"In the very act..."

"Master, this woman
was taken in adultery,
in the very act..."

they pulled her out of
school that day,
lipstick smeared,
skirt
too short and
twisted,
the hot pink lace of her
barely-there
bra peaking out
from a small tear in her
blouse...

caught in the
boys' locker room,

in the very act...

but where were the boys
the ones she'd
been with...

"oh they were
her victims"
they said under hot
angry eyes....

she lured them...you know...

why should they suffer the
embarassment of
being seen in this light,
we've taken them out
the back door....
we'll talk to
them later...

did you see
that pink bra?"

but where
are the other boys
the ones who called there,
who dialed
her cell phone as
a prank.

and what
about the other boy,
the one she liked,
the one
who
said he'd "always
wanted to get to know her...you know,  
just to talk"

she wondered that
day, as she walked alone
along the quiet path,
was it
because she was interesting?

it had been his idea to
meet at the gym
"it's quiet there and
we could bring our lunch
instead of eating in
the cafeteria"

she'd thought
"it's just like....
from a movie"

but it wasn't..
it wasn't like that at all...

didn't they see...

the
administrators,
teachers and
parents standing outside
the gym that day, the grownups
shaking their heads,  
hands on 
hips, and their own
"perfect" daughter's picture
safely tucked in  the
framed pocket of
their wallet...

didn't they
know
she'd been tricked,
manipulated,
fallen for the maybe "promise" of friendship,
acceptance,
love....

that's all she really wanted
you know...

the price too
high...

did they ask
her why,
did they even want to know?

not really...
they had the evidence
right in front of them...and
well...
it already added up

she was
observed,
witnessed,
found out,
taken
from the
gym...
in the very act?

he was
just a boy...
rough around the
edges,
a bit of a
loner...

but, this was the
last straw...
he was caught red-handed
the scent from five
soft green buds still
fragrant after sitting closed up
in
a ziploc baggie
under the hot sun of
a summer morning
in June

they all knew he was
trouble,
they'd felt it from
the start
the clothes,
the music,
no parents, just a grandmother
who didn't
watch him carefully enough....
tsk, tsk..

but did they
listen
when he told them
the truth,
that it helped her with the
pain,
made it bearable...
it wasn't for
him...it was for her...really

he was
her only hope
of getting
through
the constant pain,
the loneliness of growing old,
the welfare checks that were
never enough,
and now he'd lost it all...
his job,
his reputation,
his
own hope
that
maybe
he was more
than
they thought....

and and in light of
all this "evidence,"
they were right...of course...
they'd caught
him red-handed, with the "stuff"

he'd been
taken into custody...in the
very act...

but
sometimes
two,
plus two,
doesn't add
up to what we
think it
should...

it
isn't always
as simple
as
being caught
red-handed...
in the very act....

we have to
have
the wisdom of
Solomon,
the willingness to
listen...
really listen...

and then...

it takes a
scientist,
a mathematician,
a man of
stillness to continue
writing in the sand...

to look at things
from another
angle,
a different point of view...
to work out
the equation in
such a way,
that two,
plus two...

equals
five

2 + 2 = 5 (.80)

and then
to
help correct
the error in
their factoring...

to help them
work out from
a different
starting point....

one that
sees oneself and
others
as
whole,
undivided,
undiminished,
not needing to
compensate,
settle,
bargain,
compromise..
always
having,
expecting
seeing...from the
staring point of
being whole

not less...
never less
than
All-in-all...

where every
equation is just another
opportunity
to
love...