Pardon Palooza: The Pardon Parade

Pardons are paid for, though the price stays unseen,
A shady transaction, behind the smokescreen.
His son made the cut—what secrets were shared?
Was blackmail the currency? Was anyone spared?

A clemency gift for a spy from Beijing,
Caught with dark deeds that would make your heart sting.
A judge who sold justice for cash on the sly,
Joined the long list, and we’re left asking, "Why?"

Nearly 1,500 were granted reprieve,
But fairness and logic? Hard to believe.
Thirty-nine pardoned, their sins washed away,
In this scandalous game that defies light of day.

Justice, it seems, took a bribe to step down,
As clemency reigned in a circus-like crown.
A legacy tainted, a stain on the scroll,
What’s the real story? We may never know the whole.

-Lynn White