In the Next Life, Canto I, stanzas 125-128

So back to you at NASA: You don’t know
your former prisoners are not the cause
of what went wrong to make the mission blow.
Until you find that out, you cannot pause.

You issue a description to the press
and to authorities across the land,
so by the time you track down their address,
a thousand angry folks have joined your band.

You know you can’t deter the killer stone,
and legal retribution is absurd.
Your training won’t allow you to condone
a lynching mob, but your voice isn’t heard.

In fact, before you learn of Project SIRE,
you’ll be unconscious, trampled by the crowd,
and when you wake, you’ll only see the fire
and only hear the scoundrels scream aloud.

©2010 Louis A. Merrimac