On The Supreme Court

Karl Constantine FOLKES 1935 (Portland)



On the Supreme Court
Nine black robes of justice
Seated as Council
By Congressional ruling.
By their just proclamation.

On the Supreme Court
Nine black robes of justice.
Just this…required,
Without causing injury…
And by jury of their peers.

On the Supreme Court
Nine black robes dispense justice
On The Peoples Court.
To represent pure justice…
Of, for, and by The People.

On the Supreme Court
Justice needs to be supreme.
Free from politics.
A nonpartisan effort.
It often fails supremely.

On the Supreme Court
Nine black robes dispense justice.
Sometimes suspend it.
Keeping us all in suspense
That Truth May be held suspect.

On the Supreme Court
Nine black robes dispense justice.
Dispense prescriptions
That either heal or poison…
A checkered courtly record.

On the Supreme Court
Justice is robed in clothing.
Adorned in black robes…
Masking its inner whiteness.
Though masked, by time, still revealed.

On the Supreme Court
Nine black robes dispense justice.
Sometimes injustice.
Emperors with black robing,
Covering up Naked Truth.

On the Supreme Court
Nine black robes of justice.
Just this —required…
Without causing injury
And with jury of their peers.

On the Supreme Court
Nine black robes of justice.
Just that —required…
History serves as a witness
Just that —requires wisdom.

On the Supreme Court
Wisdom has her own vestments.
Neither black nor white.
She is robed with true justice
As servant of her nation.

On the Supreme Court
Nine black robes of justice
Need to Court Wisdom.
Her vestments are The People.
She serves them first and foremost.

About this poem

BEWARE THE IDES OF MARCH: First created in 1789, the United States Supreme Court’s role in the U. S. Justice System, while importantly vital to the enforcement of America’s federal laws, statutes, governance, and its Constitution, is full of complexities, having a checkered civil rights history, with nine men and women in black robes not always dispensing justice that is unanimously acknowledged by the nation and its citizenry as justice; sometimes ‘getting it right’ and at other times sometimes failing miserably to do so. This tanka poem is a recording of that story, with all details spared (no need to state the obvious), as a precipitous drop in approval and confidence of SCOTUS seems to be on the March in the 21st century. May God bless this nation and its people. 

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Written on September 28, 2022

Submitted by karlcfolkes on September 28, 2022

Modified by karlcfolkes on September 30, 2022

1:33 min read
496

Quick analysis:

Scheme ABcde ABfGh ABabc Axxxg ABxxx ABxex Adxbx ABxdx ABfGh ABfbi Abxbe ABicx
Closest metre Iambic trimeter
Characters 1,602
Words 312
Stanzas 12
Stanza Lengths 5, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5

Karl Constantine FOLKES

Retired educator of Jamaican ancestry with a lifelong interest in composing poetry dealing particularly with the metaphysics of self-reflection; completed a dissertation in Children’s Literature in 1991 at New York University entitled: An Analysis of Wilhelm Grimm’s “Dear Mili” Employing Von Franzian Methodological Processes of Analytical Psychology. The subject of the dissertation concerned the process of Individuation. more…

All Karl Constantine FOLKES poems | Karl Constantine FOLKES Books

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1 Comment
  • teril
    I am very impressed by your writing. You use words effortlessly and effectively. You eloquently raise a whole slew of issues that are relevant and worthy of discussion.
    LikeReply1 year ago

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"On The Supreme Court" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 23 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem/138467/on-the-supreme-court>.

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