05 Sep Madrigal of the Beaches

What haunted notions dwell in justice
And govern what we deem as right
Older than speech and sands on the beach
Fell upon mankind in the night

Owing and fairness and duties deserved
Rules of the world’s grandest game
Man was first made and then learned the trade
To return upon evils the same

Spring-waters shoot up to overfilled streams
Justice has its own destiny
Punishment is young, bitter on the tongue
Served even colder, but yet mercy is older
Far beyond reaches of creaturely beaches
Somewhere in the cross-haunted seas