he wandered lonely by day
danced in skins by night
restrained himself with silk handcuffs
pleading not guilty in the docks

you were the last to see her they said
we were one that night
i would not kill myself
seeming lucid he stood tall

with scratched face
eyes running the room
hands twitching
he smiled inappropriately
the jury sat wide-eyed
his wife teary

he started to sing
she sobbed
my derrick would never sing
he hasn’t been himself since
returning from war
his twin brother had the voice
same regiment but didn’t make it back
he was the strange one