[Newspoetry] Cold Turkey

[Mike Lehman]

But it's your mother on the cold slab
Is her name Sara?
World's largest packaged meats company
Slapped on the wrist
With a total of $200,000 in fines
For killing 15 people
Life is cheap
If you are a corporate criminal
Because you wouldn't have done the crime
If you thought you'd do time
Which you won't
When the government inspectors
Are on your side
And not the public's
Campaign money buys safety
For those who poison the public
Listeria is nasty stuff
Easily killed by proper processing
But sometimes that is not efficient
It might cut into profits
Sorry about that
"Nobody Doesn't Like Sara Lee"
We hear no complaints from the dead

(with thanks for the title to David Gehrig)