Robing October

U.S. Supreme Court
Drawing by Dana Verkouteren
From the Associated Press

as the temperature cools
robes come off the hook
wings flare from the bench
aligning themselves
right and left
constitutional credos
asserting themselves
hard and soft

as summer evaporates
judicial temperament
comes back as rain
to settle the dry restive soil
collecting in puddles
of rank jurisprudence
originalist or activist
catchments of justice

as day becomes equal
to night and the leaves
turn divided to red or to gold
all it takes is that one
orange leaf to fall
landing where law
and where life
will forever be changed