<\/p>\n
Vengeance Is Mine<\/strong><\/p>\n The day it happened I was young.<\/p>\n Not yet old enough to use a gun.<\/p>\n They came riding onto our ranch.<\/p>\n We weren\u2019t ready. We had no chance.<\/p>\n Mama told me \u201cHide in the woodbox.\u201d<\/p>\n I jumped in quick as a scared fox.<\/p>\n Mama barely closed the lid<\/p>\n before they saw where I was hid.<\/p>\n They drew guns & demanded money.<\/p>\n Papa said we had no money.<\/p>\n They looked over and shot him dead.<\/p>\n The bullet hit him in the head.<\/p>\n I peeked out from within the box.<\/p>\n The man was tall with golden locks.<\/p>\n He had a scar running down his face.<\/p>\n He threw my mama around the place.<\/p>\n He said \u201cThe money or your dead too.\u201d<\/p>\n Mama said \u201cI have no money for you.\u201d<\/p>\n The man shot her in the face.<\/p>\n Then he & his men wrecked the place.<\/p>\n They found liquor and started to drink.<\/p>\n One took a leak right in the sink.<\/p>\n They laughed and cursed and finally left.<\/p>\n Took all they wanted in the theft.<\/p>\n I came out of my hiding place.<\/p>\n I cried when I saw my mama\u2019s face.<\/p>\n I vowed vengeance, then I cried.<\/p>\n \u201cEach one of them will have to die.\u201d<\/p>\n I started practicing day and night.<\/p>\n Shooting\u00a0 a gun till I got it right.<\/p>\n I had sold the ranch to get the cash.<\/p>\n Bought ammo & trained till I got fast.<\/p>\n I fired standing up and sitting down.<\/p>\n I fired running and from the ground.<\/p>\n I fired riding and over a wall.<\/p>\n I practiced till no one could beat my draw.<\/p>\n I practiced for many years.<\/p>\n Day and night between my tears.<\/p>\n So fast people could hardly see my draw.<\/p>\n I hit any target, no matter how small.<\/p>\n Finally the day came about<\/p>\n When I heard the killers were about.<\/p>\n After a month I picked up their trail.<\/p>\n \u201cIt won\u2019t be long\u201d I began to wail.<\/p>\n They were in a deserted rundown church.<\/p>\n Their horses were tied to an old birch.<\/p>\n After releasing their horses I snuck closer.<\/p>\n I checked that my gun was loose in the holster.<\/p>\n They were playing cards on the podium<\/p>\n at a table where the Bible should have been.<\/p>\n They were drinking, cussing, & carrying on.<\/p>\n Behavior of which they seemed real fond.<\/p>\n I crawled up between the pews.<\/p>\n Soon to give them deadly news.<\/p>\n I drew my gun.— Was this a sin?<\/p>\n Then I heard my mama\u2019s voice again.<\/p>\n ‘Treat others as you\u2019d want them to treat you.’<\/p>\n ‘It is wrong to kill though\u00a0they be a fool.’<\/p>\n Suddenly, as the tears came down,<\/p>\n I tossed my gun up front on the ground.<\/p>\n The bandits jumped up and drew their guns.<\/p>\n They saw me and knew I was the one.<\/p>\n The one who had followed them for weeks.<\/p>\n They would finish me for keeps.<\/p>\n As they started to blow me away,<\/p>\n the ceiling fell in crushing their play.<\/p>\n I stood up and thanked the Lord above.<\/p>\n I asked for forgiveness & was given love.<\/p>\n Today he is the pastor of that very church.<\/p>\n It was rebuilt by townsfolk who knew his worth.<\/p>\n He is popular with his sermons.<\/p>\n Especially when he tells what turned him.<\/p>\n His mama\u2019s voice,\u00a0 (or was it God\u2019s voice.)<\/p>\n That made him make a different choice.<\/p>\n Made him what he is today.<\/p>\n God\u2019s servant in every way———————R. W. Johnson—-(2011)<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Vengeance Is Mine The day it happened I was young. Not yet old enough to use a gun. They came riding onto our ranch. We weren\u2019t ready. We had no chance. Mama told me \u201cHide in the woodbox.\u201d I jumped in quick as a scared fox. Mama barely closed the lid before they saw … Continue reading Vengeance Is Mine<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12,11,10],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-125","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-random","category-religious","category-western"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wordsmithwisdom.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/125","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wordsmithwisdom.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wordsmithwisdom.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wordsmithwisdom.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wordsmithwisdom.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=125"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.wordsmithwisdom.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/125\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":126,"href":"https:\/\/www.wordsmithwisdom.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/125\/revisions\/126"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wordsmithwisdom.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=125"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wordsmithwisdom.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=125"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wordsmithwisdom.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=125"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}