S.T.F.U.

by Todd Mercer

If none of us talk,
we all walk out free,
on our own recognizance.
Don’t take the deal. Don’t blink
when they say your partners
betrayed you first, i.d.’d you as ringleader.
Police make things up,
they’re allowed to lie, to psych you out.
You must’ve seen a TV cop drama. So show sense
and invoke that Fifth Amendment.
Or better, answer, “I don’t recall,”
to the Bad Cop when he slaps
the cup of coffee from your hand,
and say it to the Good Cop also,
when he calms his fellow actor,
when he pours you a fresh java,
says he can relate.