Herbert Nehrlich - Judging The Apple

The dreadful scourge of leprosy
no introduction necessary,
blows clouds of poison gas
a warning to us all, do keep away.
A penalty of scars and foul decay,
soon sends its tentacles into the mind,
there is no cure, just hopeless melancholy.
Of those who do associate, to help
be it the nurses or the breakfast cooks,
not one will ever be without the gas,
they have been soiled beyond repair,
associates of epidemiology.
It is as if the brother or the spouse
had murdered even raped, all in cold blood,
and thus infected, like the germ of leprosy
all those of common origin with pus
that knows no barricades and no humanity.
Be warned, my friend, do pick them wisely,
lest you be judged just like the apple from the tree.

Herbert Nehrlich

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