Complacency

Pedaling in perspiration along
the uphill road to poetry,
you smile in cool complacency,
with the left eyebrow cocked to consonance,
while the sun, and sum, of technical
requirements weighs heavy on your shoulders.

Surely there’s something rattling in your head,
but Fate may one day resolve –
playful, complacent and cool as she is –
to hide from your eyes the on-coming truck
of criticism as you try to cross
over to vanity street and,
Ooops, that must have hurt!

Rise and shine my flat-headed friend!
Quit sprawling on the hot-scented
asphalt of embarrassment;
pick up your pancake head;
wipe the red and move on;
and move on!

The face of justice

In this country
The face of Justice
Is a reflection of a face smeared
With individual and political expediency,
Pervasive corruption and
The occasional arrogance and ignorance
Of public prosecutors.

In this country
The face of Justice
Is what we make of our face,
And hands.

Justice, they say.
What justice?
We’ve lost face
And got our hands dirty!

This country, which never was
Or ever will be,
Is a thing of the past,
Unless. . .