There once was a judge of high position,
delivering justice was his mission,
tall and proud he always stood,
and wherever he went people would
comment on his attire,
and how he held his head higher
than any man of modesty would.
Now having pride is always good,
but excess can ruin any man
just like any emotion can,
and for that the judge showed none,
only pride and a smile on a job well done.
This judge's features were chiseled from stone,
and one could never see an emotion roam
on his face,
his mind was a dark, cold place,
where he hid memories and things of old,
but here is where his story is told.

His story begins in the month of May,
and on this particular day,
a trial was to occur,
one the judge would prefer
to forget.
He received a call call with much fret,
informing him of a difficult trial.
The judge was in denial
of the words he heard then.
"Remember your brother Ben?"
He was being tried for a frightful crime,
and all this time
the Judge and Ben had not spoken,
and their friendship had been broken
Because he had been on the run from the law
from a murder he "saw",
but was accused of partaking in,
and the one thing that threw the Judge for a spin
was the victim's identity
"Your good friend Jonathan Kennedy."
The judge froze,
but as the story goes
he calmly inquired the date,
and in a desperate state,
the man on the line
replies, "can you be here by nine?"

Out the door the judge flew,
into the crowded New York brew,
and paced along the busy street,
into the courthouse where they were to meet.
Brother's reunited under strenuous times,
separated by one's terrible crimes.
Now ten years is a long time to replace,
and one look in the judge's face
told Ben he was nor forgiven,
this look from the judge could have driven
any man to shame,
the judge though Ben was to blame
for the death of his dear friend,
and he would fight until the end
to see his brother locked away
until his dying day.
His brother pleaded innocence,
the judge wanted to plead ignorance
to the whole situation,
his thoughts were swirling with information
and emotions never felt before,
but before he could speak the door
opened and his colleague came in
and informed him that the trial was to begin.
With that the brother's stood
and entered the courtroom where they would
determine the outcome in secret.
They shut the doors and with it
shut out all media and press
that wanted to put the judge to the test
of morality and kin,
and which was the greater sin,
condemning the one's you love
or abandoning practice with grace from above
and save a tortured soul.
The judge had to contemplate his role
as both brother and lawman
and the possibility that one can
determine right and wrong
from family and practice and still remain strong.
After what seemed like eternity
the doors were open and the press was free
to inquire and interrogate,
which made the court a bit irate,
but the judge stood with his face of stone,
and not one emotion was shown
when they asked the inevitable question,
"to which fate is your brother destined?"
and with that the judge gave his reply,
"I have condemned his soul to die."