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November 16, 2005

Wednesday Is Poetry Day

Today, a little Sandburg, from 1920.


The Lawyers Know Too Much
 
The lawyers, Bob, know too much.
They are chums of the books of old John Marshall.
They know it all, what a dead hand Wrote,
A stiff dead hand and its knuckles crumbling,
The bones of the fingers a thin white ash

    The lawyers know
      a dead man’s thoughts too well.
 
In the heels of the higgling lawyers, Bob,
Too many slippery ifs and buts and howevers,
Too much hereinbefore provided whereas,

Too many doors to go in and out of.
 
    When the lawyers are through
    What is there left, Bob?
    Can a mouse nibble at it
    And find enough to fasten a tooth in?
 
    Why is there always a secret singing
    When a lawyer cashes in?
    Why does a hearse horse snicker
    Hauling a lawyer away?
 
The work of a bricklayer goes to the blue.

The knack of a mason outlasts a moon.
The hands of a plasterer hold a room together.
The land of a farmer wishes him back again.
    Singers of songs and dreamers of plays
    Build a house no wind blows over.

The lawyers—tell me why a hearse horse snickers hauling a lawyer’s bones.



Posted by annika, Nov. 16, 2005 | TrackBack (0)
Rubric: Poetry



Comments


Reminds me of a joke my friend likes to tell me:

What do you call a lawyer with an IQ below 100?

Answer
-
-
-
-
-
- Your Honor

Posted by: Zerin Hood on Nov. 16, 2005

Nice choice, considering results are to be posted Friday night.

Posted by: KG on Nov. 16, 2005

Jeez, and I never really liked Sandburg before. I'll have to take another look.

Posted by: Casca on Nov. 16, 2005

good luck KG! My roommate is waiting for results too.

Posted by: annika on Nov. 16, 2005

Bar Exam results? *Shudders*

Posted by: Mark on Nov. 17, 2005

Boston Globe: Seeing red? It may be your law firm by Sacha Pfeiffer

A study of the country's 200 most profitable firms found that more than half of them -- 116, to be exact -- have blue logos, websites, business cards, and other advertising materials.

Why blue? Maybe because it's what's known in the marketing business as a ''low arousal" color, one that elicits a sense of calm and relaxation. Blue also projects an aura of royalty and authority.

Is there a color for "arrogant, elitist reptiles lacking in human empathy" ? That might be more appropriate than blue.

http://www.boston.com/business/globe/articles/2005/11/16/seeing_red_it_may_be_your_law_firm/?p1=MEWell_Pos2

Posted by: Mark on Nov. 17, 2005

I copy annika by posting poetry on Wednesday at my blog.

Posted by: Myrhaf on Nov. 23, 2005