Tuesday, January 12, 2016

The Praise of Legal Terms



whereupon I squirmed at the precipice of time
thus i sat at the edge of time
mulling over thoughts oft unpondered
thinking afresh
aggrandizing the treasure trove of language
like a cabal of thieves hungry to visit sin into the cosmos
learning new language with purpose
because the tool of trade of law and/or defence
has been the lexicon we pompously ride roughshod
because language has been lawyer’s greatest pride

here, then, if it pleases this court, is my honourable submission
galloping in endless razzmatazz
saying in twenty pages
what can be said in a paragraph.

this string of lucid prose  
this poem
true to character, is wasted ink on paper
confounding thought, strangling plain reading
swimming in a flood of meaningless and high-sounding words
calculated, no doubt, to leave the client's mouth agape
with archaic language that clings to the roof one's mouth
long after a long day in court
the above-captioned poem
the poem above
enclosed herewith
delete, delete.

doesn’t it bother you
hauling words chained to a broken statue of pretence?
does it?

C) Salem Lorot 2015