The news this week is not all virus-related.Â
A number of Supreme Court decisions were announced. Our majority-conservative Court proved itself up to the task, impressing even moderates and liberals.Â
The case determining that the Presidency has to obey a subpoena for documents, rather than ignoring it, had the news networks crowing, The Rule of Law has been vindicated!Â
At the same time, prosecutors on Presidential cases are being pressured to leave their positions.Â
It made me think about how law infiltrates our lives, and, like music, is appreciated most, in its absence.Â
I pictured a violin string in the first stanza, and the orchestra grew from there. I could not find a violin image. So I settled, for a thing of beauty.Â
Hope you enjoy it! Â
The law’s a thing of beauty.
The law’s a silver string.
So few attempt to play it.
So few can make it sing.
Its body, carved by ancients,
Who pulled it taut and lean;
Its breath, a whisp of horsehair;
Its pull and push, serene.
We learn at Father’s footstool.
We learn at Mother’s knee.
We learn the tune of justice,
The tone, of liberty.
We hum it with our heartstrings.
We drum it on our bones.
We trumpet it from rooftops.
Our bells, its spells intone.
Harmonious and happy,
Or dissonant and dull,
We revel in vibrations.
We tremble, at its lull.
The rule of law, presiding,
Conducts this symphony.
In such a sudden silence, what
Becomes, of you and me?
Copyright 2020 Andrea LeDew
I’ve never read a poem about the rule of law before. Brava!
(Bows.). As you can see I am not up on this stage alone, writing about this topic.
Heres an online collection called Poetic Justice-Law Poems, which starts with a quote indicating that law and poetry spring from the same place. Heres my favorite (though Carl Sandburg’s entry is a crushing indictment of lawyers.). Alexander Pope has written some of the two truest lines, ever:
For forms of government let fools contest
Whate’er is best administered is best.
http://www.duhaime.org/LawFun/LawArticle-407/For-Forms-of-Government-Let-Fools-Contest.aspx
I love your violin metaphor for your ode to the law! I was very heartened by the Supreme Court’s decision as well. At times, right reason prevails after all.
Thank you Liz. Integrity is a rare and beautiful thing. And the principal that no man is above the law undergirds everything we value.
It certainly does; it was so good to see that principle upheld.