Justice, Elusive

justice be a spat upon man,
gutter shoes and droopy eyes
 
justice be a girl in mud,
tar black with ooze stink
 
justice be a three-legged dog
tilted by a sorry, tattered ear
 
justice be the fish on the shore
left to gurgle and flop and expire
 
justice be three birds on a wire
making moan sounds in a stiff wind
 
justice be the collapsed tire in a heap
of junk where hungry children crawl
 
justice be nothing like a sun or moon
or star or cluster of stars in a black sky
 
justice be the middle syllable of a word
thrown away, a language thrown away
 
justice be the metal heart of a soldier
who carried nothing over the last hill

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