The spirit of the red card moves through the pack
and no one knows to whom it will be dealt.
The spirit of the red card some see as the red hand
of retribution.
Some say the intervention of God trumps
the intervention of man.
For man is a puny thing in the hand of God.
But maybe it’s just because anger fuels
the fight against injustice.
And justice is mercury in the hand of man.
He cannot make it still in his palm.
He causes it to spill as he clenches his fist.
But the red card soaks the spill of justice
and waits silently in the pack
for mercury to arrive with a message.

***

Paul Gerard Dalton is a singer-songwriter with two albums of his songs available at paulgerarddalton.bandcamp.com. His first selection of poetry “Fielding Memories” was published in 2024. His poetry has been published in The Crank, The Cannon’s Mouth, Sparks of Calliope, Lothlorien Poetry Journal and Wivenhoe Poem of the Day. He also presents his poems on his Instagram and Facebook pages called Poems for the Many. He lives In London, England.