AND THEN THERE WERE LAWYERS

by Alejandro Escudé




A garden of lawyers planted with the utmost care,
            petunia lawyers, and rose lawyers, daisy and sunflower lawyers,
as the sun sprinkles its salty light over the plots; at night,
            the moon rises like a white crow flying in eternal circles,
the stars spit old blue mucus—lawyers blooming among lawyers,
            suited in pink, lilacs, oranges, the soil healthy, dark, biblical
beneath their lawyer root-feet. They dig deep down into the earth,
            so far down their defenses are solid as stone. The judge
presides over the seasons. He of the morning cloth, he of the pit
            and tractor. Green and motorized. His honor the plough,
his honor the keeper of the books. One lawyer reflects more
            expressions than ripples in a water trough. His head a skull,
his mind an exactitude of inexactitudes. “Truth isn’t truth,”
            he would often be heard whispering to the beetles that punctuated
the documents of creation. Indeed, the rain excised no tax
            on him, this silly, ill-begotten snake who swore only to protect
the politicians politicking from stump to stump like magpies.
            When the day comes pure, cold against the volcanic solitude,
think of the low road that sinks beneath the river. No flies
            near the dead-spaces. Let’s not forget, justice isn’t human.


Alejandro Escudé published his first full-length collection of poems My Earthbound Eye in September 2013. He holds a master’s degree in creative writing from UC Davis and teaches high
school English. Originally from Argentina, Alejandro lives in Los Angeles with his wife and two children.
       

Related Stories

 

Related Posts :

  • THIS IS HOW WE DO WHAT WE DO NOWby Alan Catlin A dead dolphin was found washed ashore in Westerly RI, Oct. 27, 2019. Photo: Zac Perrin, Channel 10 Providence. … Read More...
  • EXAMby Mark Ward This week Ugandan police arrested 16 LGBTQ activists on charges of gay sex—which is punishable by life imprisonment. Po… Read More...
  • REQUIEM FOR ELIJAHby Shelly Blankman How do you say goodbye? Always a brew of duty and love, a fusion of friendship and family. Stir in politics and the re… Read More...
  • SYCAMORE, SYCAMOREby Sally Zakariya “Today we published the results of this quantum supremacy experiment in the Nature article, ‘Quantum Supremacy Usi… Read More...
  • NEWS HOUR IN DUFUR, OREGON Original photo by Lynn Ketchum for Oregon State University: Flowering rabbit brush brightens Oregon’s rangelands and provides susten… Read More...

0 Response to "AND THEN THERE WERE LAWYERS"

Posting Komentar