Sleep a lost jewel, he unfolded her
from his flexing arms, rose and settled next
to the central hearth, stoking its meager
flame, his brain revising tight legal text
entering all citizens in Athens’
Ecclesia, sealing democracy.
He would soon dissolve all Draco’s heathen
laws, denounce their brutal hypocrisy,
secure the town from desiring tyrants
like Cylon. What else? Ah, Nomos, enough
for tonight. He’d let warm fire’s crackling chant
consume him. Then walk at will to a bluff
above the Aegean, gaze out as far
as he could, bless where dark waves touched bright stars.
Roger Armbrust
July 4, 2010
