Mr. Justice stands in the public square, in the form of a mighty guillotine with outstretched arms, watching how energetically people chant for others’ head to be lumped off, and how silent they grow when they’re being marched to Justice.
“Why do you present a formidable defense, and moving pleas for yourselves, but turn a blind eye to others’s weaknesses and flaws?” Justice cries out.
No one answers.
Great piece Benjamin- a striking visual metaphor and sharp commentary on the hypocrisy of mob justice🙌
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Justice as a guillotine who questions the crowd’s appetite for punishment? That’s an excellent shift from the usual takes on Justice, Benjamin.
I also admired the ambiguity between Justice and Vengeance. I found myself thinking of Isimud, the two-faced messenger of Enki, Sumerian god of civilisation. Civilisation is caught uneasily between the two abstractions in your poem.
The crowd eagerly demands punishment for others but discovers the virtues of mercy when facing judgement itself. Again, there’s the symmetry between their enthusiastic chanting, their silence when brought before Justice, and the unanswered question at the end.
Your final “No one answers” is particularly effective. There’s nothing more to say, and you’ve wisely left it there.
Thanks for such an interesting response. Dennis
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