Speech to the Association of American Prosecutors
Lewis Leicher
Nothing can be “ghostly” since there are no ghosts.
There’s no such thing as mind reading. There’s no
precognition – there never was. We can’t
retrieve memories from our past lives, even
if we’ve had some (not that I think we did).
What there are are fraudsters trying to con
naïve marks out of their savings.
I don’t care if it’s in the name of Faith
or Love or Patriotism. I don’t care
whether the charlatans are politicians
or preachers, poets or psychologists…
or all four. It doesn’t matter whether
they’re peddling supplements or salvation,
gold coins or increases in penis size.
I don’t care if they believe their own lies.
Our punishments for these white-collar crimes
are simply too light. We make excuses
for the perpetrators and try to blame
the trusting victims. That’s not right.
I know… I was a grifter. I wasn’t caught
and statutes of limitations have run.
There are good people out there who believe
I’m no longer alive (I haunt their nights)
and some nice folks who thought I could read minds,
contact ancestors or see the future.
My targets were, of course, well-off.
It wasn’t for the money, really.
I later earned much more as a member
of the criminal defense bar. In that role,
I followed the rules… well, mostly. I guess
I conned for thrills, that’s what I was hooked on…
which doesn’t make it any less wrong.
This, too, may be another of my scams.
I’ll leave you wondering uneasily
which portions of this tall tale might be true…
or, for 50 bucks apiece, I’ll tell you.
Lewis Leicher
Lewis Leicher has returned to Poetry, now that he has retired, after an almost 40-year break (for which Poetry has not yet forgiven him). Poems of his have appeared, or are scheduled to appear, in: The Weaver; ionosphere; Seedlings Studio; Pinky Thinker Press; bramble; The NightWriter Review; Scribeworth; and other publications. During that break, he worked as an attorney. He has lived in San Diego since 2001 and, before that, lived mostly in and around New York City.