Lady Justice Can’t Resolve Grief
I gave you a hug,
Told you I loved you,
Then watched you drive away
Funny thing, I didn’t say good-bye
I thought I’d see you again
And I did
But not like I’d planned —
Laughing, beaming, wide-eyed
Ready for your next adventure
Instead,
Your life had been taken
Leaving those who loved you
To figure out how to go on living,
To put your life,
Our lives,
On the scales of justice
And watch the weight tip one way
Then another
And back again,
And learn that in this earthly life
Justice is mind-boggling slow,
Defined centuries ago by those who
Have no stake in the outcome,
Purposely abstruse,
Blind in its rectitude,
Unfeeling by necessity;
Lady Justice wears her blindfold
And carries her scales well
But the sword remains by her side;
The day will come when,
Finally,
The scales will balance
Her sword will rise
And the world will know
What we know…
Yet, in the aftermath,
On that quiet, still day
When Lady Justice moves on
To her next assignment,
Despite her strength and quest for equity,
Nothing will have truly changed.
Because …
The scales of justice can’t solve life’s most basic truth …
There is no counter-balance
For grief