My Deepest Thoughts

My deepest thoughts are like prisoners
chained in a dungeon, or like madmen
restrained and out of sight
locked in a salutary padded cell.
With time served, the closely held captives might be freed,
lawfully on parole, or with a certificate of sanity.
Tamed thoughts walk quietly, harm no one, raise no alarm.
But my deepest, darkest thoughts, all unruly, might break jail,
run wild in the streets, raise havoc.
Then sound the tocsin!
The angry mob assembles; following the hue and cry
they chase down each and every errant thought,
catch it, burn it, bury the ashes six feet deep
beneath a layer of quicklime and a warning sign:
Keep your untamed thoughts to yourself.