The Judge
Every day he sees them in court.
They are the youth, the children of a disenfranchised society.
They are torn, worn, ignored.
They are not listened to, given loving attention
or assured of their worth.
They are invisible yet also too visible.
They are too loud yet also not loud enough.
They are hard to understand, they have their own
language and their own way of interacting accordingly.
''They'' belong to their own kind of people,
people with their own rules and ''laws''.
And five days a week, his job is to
somehow........ judge them.
''Down goes the gavel,
up stands the child,
Down goes the future
Up goes the crime
Down goes the hopeful
Up those who doubt.''
For thirty-three years he's sat on the bench.
Once a young man of great expectations.
Now a man of grey hair and hyper-tension.
He knows the rules and amendments well.
He knows for some, life is but a never-ending hell.
''Down goes the gavel,
up stands the youth,
Down goes the future
Up goes the crime
Down goes the hopeful
Up those who doubt.''
His wife no longer by his side
His children grown,
they have their own lives.
Just him and all his thoughts:
''I could have done better,
I could have done more.''
A judge must be impartial,
must not get too involved,
must stick to provable truth and logic
and always follow the evidential path.
''Down goes the gavel,
up stands the adult child,
Down goes the future
Up goes the crime
Down goes the hopeful
Up those who doubt.''
Would not his life and living easier be
if he could just care less and just not see
the possibilities and endless potentials,
that day after day stand there in the dock
mere children taken away to a life ruled by a lock.
''Down goes the gavel,
up stands mankind,
Down goes the future
Up goes the crime
Down goes the hopeful
Up those who doubt.''
He's been told by cynics and scoffers alike:
''Stop your forgiving you know how they lie!
All of them are lazy, they don't even try.
They break all the rules without trying
to comply.''
There are days when his heart grows weary.
Days when hope seems gone and left is but the dreary.
And yet.....
He can't stop but believe that even if told a lie
one should at least be willing to listen to all sides
whether the words be spoken by an adult or a child.
Down goes the bias
up goes the understanding.
Down goes the prejudice
up goes the understanding and acceptance.
Down goes the exclusivity
up goes the understanding, acceptance
and inclusivity.
about the image: first a sketch then played with in Elements
The original is a water colour on large paper and looks totally
different
