The Lawyer Objects to Metaphoric Language

by Mike Puican | Mon Jul 16 2012

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Mike Puican reads "The Lawyer Objects to Metaphoric Language"

Show me the fireball of desire, the scarlet carpet of untamed horses,
the roar of stone lions. Present the evidence! he says,

That fish spawn in tree trunks, that starlings
fly through the sleep of schoolchildren!

The judge glances at her watch. She thinks of her lover’s body
touched by the morning’s sun. She could use a cigarette.

Suddenly, a lion enters the courtroom.
The lawyer’s head is lodged between the big cat’s teeth.

The courtroom grows silent as he disappears into darkness.
Fools! he cries, Your language! It’s not dangerous enough!

This work is part of

Issue 142, Summer/Fall 2012

Filed Under

Poetry

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