A Poem, The Whipping Boy

My wife was describing a part in a show she watches. She was telling me about how one character takes so much abuse due to the other characters’ mishaps. Naturally, I blurted out, “oh wow, like a whipping boy?” —-And there we go, I had a topic to keep me busy for the day, haha!

I clued her in on the details of what precisely the whipping boy went through in his life. In summation, I told her, “he was a scapegoat for the prince. If the prince did something wrong, they’d whip this poor boy.”

Then I got thinking of what it would be like in his position, and I wrote a poem about it.

My pain is your pleasure
What have I done wrong
My loyalty long enough to measure
Through the pain, I remain strong
The prince committed a transgression
My skin cracks and begins to bleed
Due to an ill-fated confession
I fight back the tears as I plead
A whipping tongue spews words of beration
My eyes blur, and my ears ring
As the crowd shouts words with elation
Why do I allow this pain with a sting
I am the Whipping Boy, a scapegoat for the spoiled
With a deep breath, I swallow the hate that has boiled

Let me know what you think!
Thanks for reading!

Travis J. McRoy 2021 All Rights Reserved.

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