Think Three Times - edit

[dukealien]

Hey duke-
I haven't changed a word, yet suggest going with three, five line stanzas, to reflect symmetry with the title:


Think Three Times

Please do not ever think
that if you abuse and victimize
men who look like the men
who once victimized and abused
men who looked like you–

that this worm will turn only once
that righteous wrath is yours alone
that downtrodden people
never will rise up and take revenge
when it’s you that did the treading.

Please do not ever think
you can’t be better
only just as bad–
because the wheel of justice
will not stop with you on top.

Actually, not having changed a word in my first edit was an apology to the critic(s), not a constraint self-imposed or otherwise.

In all honesty, I like your parsing better than either of mine.  It's logical, even follows the sentence structure.  Looking at it now, I get the feeling that the strung-out versions used white space pretentiously, to seem profound - like glaring-eyed pauses in a one-man play or TV lecture.

So... what tiny changes shall I insert to make your version mine