Blind Justice

Kathryn Jones

October 29, 2023

Bronze goddess holds up scales 

in equal balance, sword at her side,

dispensing wisdom blindfolded.

She does not see how the scales 

have tipped, gold and power

heavier than truth or righteousness.

Perched atop the temple 

she is blind to what happens inside –

the guilty absolved, corrupt exonerated,

innocents condemned, executed,

justice twisted into a club, 

knocking Themis off her pedestal.

She lies on the ground now, 

scales crushed, sword bent,

blindfold in tatters, seeing it all now, 

face twisted in grief for justice

shattered, divine order scattered,

bronze tears soaking into dust.

Kathryn Jones is a poet, journalist, and essayist whose work has been published in The New York Times, Texas Monthly, Texas Highways, and the Texas Observer. Her poetry has appeared in numerous literary journals and anthologies, including TexasPoetryAssignment.com, Unknotting the Line: The Poetry in Prose (Dos Gatos Press, 2023), Lone Star Poetry (Kallisto Gaia Press, 2023), and in an upcoming chapbook, An Orchid’s Guide to Life, to be published by Finishing Line Press. She was inducted into the Texas Institute of Letters in 2016 and lives on a ranch near Glen Rose, Texas.