The Law Classes Poem by RIC BASTASA

when the semester opens
i usually create a bing bang to those who come
wanting to be lawyers, telling them that the
study of law is not that easy, in fact,
an eternal damnation,
for laws are made by man and man
changes laws everytime he wants to sneeze.

and they think i am bluffing testing their capacity
for endurance, like Louise, i tell them the story
of sisyphus,
how he pushes the stone
meaninglessly
on top of the mountain, and repeats the acts
with diligent efforts,
though there seems to be
no reward at the end,

but how can they ever believe me
when lawyers at every bend
ride in flashy cars and
live in luxury
smoke the best cigars
and take most of the money

well respected in the highest
echelons of political society,

and i tell then again
to do their best, whatever that be,

when the class is dismissed,
they all laugh & tell themselves
what is there in law
that should consume them,
when laws are not really well studied or applied and
only ten percent
shall be faithfully used
or followed at the end,

to succeed,
they say,
law is set aside,
what challenges them more
perhaps
is the subtle art of lying,
without blinking an eye
for truth, a kind of
projection,
image packaging,
psywars,
knowing the gods,
the art of pulling stings
and fidelity
to networks

pointing
where Zeus lives,
and knowing fully well
what thunderbolts to use,

integrity? principle?
honesty?
they all laugh again,
you cannot eat them

just lick them.

and so, i tell them again next meeting, that
sisyphus
is nothing but just a myth, forget it,
meanwhile
the oral recitation shall start
and there they are
their heads fuming
like mad
monsters..