Gavel And Gown Poem by Bernedita Rosinha Pinto

No one wants to be over-happy or over-sad
No one wants to only sleep and not run
No one wants to over-eat or be under-fed
but if you try to fix what you lack
whether you steal, borrow or beg
the law will deal with you with its gavel and gown;
if you rob, covet or grab without permissions
in the jail you will be sent as punishment;
if you sink to the bottom of the river while on a picnic
the law will declare your death was by drowning,
but if you drown yourself deliberately
it will be called suicide rather than an action of self-relief;
if you choose to fall in love with an older man or woman
the law will call it adultery or even bigamy
if the on the other side is a marital dis-connection,
but if you romance secretly, the law will ignore it as gossip.
yes, if the insensible mind of man, makes man rape a woman
the law will give him seven years of imprisonment in a cell
where he will sit and reminisce his action of rape
as provider of instant satisfaction;
if by vengeance you punch someone and cause hurt or injury
the law will say you made an attempt on the life
of another and arrest you
but if it was just a friendly fight
no penalties will be enforced
but an out-of-court settlement will conclude the deal
with hidden benefits to the victim
who falls prey to compensation due to his ignorance of law
and the force of justice;
if by any vehicle you knock someone down
many court visits, evidences, acquittals and few convictions follow
while the injured himself makes amends by promising to himself
that he will never drive fast or on the wrong side again
for having lost his hip-joint synchronization
due to the nut bolts fixed within;
if someone has trespassed or encroached upon your land
the occupant is the new owner of your worries
unless you get an order of eviction against him;
finally if someone has stabbed another in a gang-fight,
the one who has lost his right to live is the one
who has to go and sleep six feet underneath
or get burnt in the crematorium in silence of defeat;
the twists and turns of law upon the wand of proof decides
and just as man needs law to guide and guard the next step of life
law needs man to relate the facts without fear or dereliction
and though exhausting may be those visits to the Court halls
and though sometimes witnesses turn hostile over months and years
the fight for justice never ends though time and turbulence
flies man to frustration and tears.