law

the city glooms, you know
outside the shuttered courthouse windows,
dulled sirens the brightest flashes.
gentle sunlight,
softly distant
sketches our bureaucratic march
on marble counter tops:
we slouched few
scurry beneath the arched triomphe de justice;
so heavily yolked in scathing civility.
there's work to do! these laws
will not condemn alone, nor
charge great pennies for their use!
to arms, my brethren,
don dark robes and speak as gods!
--and yet. the furor passes by
my island mind withdrawn from legal city gloom.
i've found myself: a thin sketch of marble shadow
more deserving than this judicious mayhem.
what funny things we are! so convinced
our murmerings carry meaning. what's that?
i have never seen a law i like so well as this thin shadow.




10/20/08