Imported Justice
The sovereign seal, a nation's solemn vow,
Embossed on parchment binding here and now.
Its statutes etched in native tongue and stone,
A people's will, distinctly, fiercely known.
But whispers rise on winds that cross the sea,
Of courts unseen and laws that disagree.
A tapestry unfurls with threads of blue and gold,
Woven in halls where other tales are told.
"Universal rights," the distant voices call,
"Transcend the borders, stand above you all."
And treaties signed in moments fraught with need,
Become the loom where foreign threads proceed.
A judgment falls, a hand from far away,
Declares a verdict come what might come may.
The local courts, their rulings overturned,
A nation's pride perhaps a little burned.
Is this a triumph, justice pure and bright?
A beacon shining banishing the night
Of tyranny where local power held sway,
And human dignity was cast astray?
Or is it rather subtly something less?
A shadow cast, a silent slow distress.
The taste of justice when it's not our own,
A borrowed garment awkwardly put on.
For who decides which threads the loom shall bear?
Whose vision guides the pattern woven there?
The victor's hand, the powerful and grand,
Whose narratives sweep across the yielding land?
And what of nuance, culture's subtle weave?
The ancient customs that a people believe?
Can abstract principles so cleanly defined,
Embrace the spirit of a nation's mind?
The sovereign weeps, a silent inner tear,
As foreign mandates quell the voices here.
Is true autonomy a fragile fading dream,
When global dictates breach the local stream?
Perhaps the answer lies in balance sought,
Where universal truths are dearly bought,
Not through imposition stark and cold and high,
But through a dialogue beneath an open sky.
Where sovereign voices strong and clear and true,
Can shape the fabric adding colors new.
For justice when it truly finds its root,
Must resonate within the native fruit.
Lest we forget though grand the global scheme,
The heart of justice beats within the local dream.
And laws imposed however well-intended,
May leave a nation's spirit undefended.
©bfa041225
Copyright ©
Bernard F. Asuncion
|