Law is not Justice

Law may be the crutch upon which
we prevent ourselves from staggering
in the uneven search for justice
And yet we are so like benign drunks
stepping over-cautiously, unaware
in our need for peaceful sleep
that law is not justice

No more than peace is the absence of war
or bread alone makes a banquet
I find, as you find, inequalities in the pages
of my daily paper, momentary unease
a sense of helplessness, frustration
Yet laws are given of men
and justice must be taken

Paraphrasing Anatole France
the majestic equality of the law
forbids the rich as well as the poor
to sleep under bridges
to beg in the streets
and to steal bread
And where I ask is justice in that?

If law is the opposite of anarchy
then what opposes justice
but the need in all of us to stand
apart, somehow above our fellow man
Rich will drive and poor be driven
one to home and one to jail
The bread of law calling itself a banquet

So arbitrate, interpret, determine and decide
the work of juries and the judges
who are called justices as well
without the slightest trace of irony
Speed laws may not make of us skilled drivers
yet with dedication, hours behind the wheel
we may yet navigate a route to justice