By Shem Onderi
He sleeps with the law,
Wakes with arguments already drawn—
Citations sharpened for the court.
Even his walk to work
Is measured in legal steps.
In court, meanings are weighed and juggled,
Oral submissions rise and fall,
All spoken in honor of the bench.
Files sit in careful order,
Each claim anchored in jurisprudence.
Time is scarce—
No hour wasted before the court.
Every citation is treated with reverence,
Yet his stand is tested,
Met with counterarguments and reluctant concessions.
He may leave the session dissatisfied,
But his case still holds water.
Victory, he knows, is sometimes deferred—
Another day, another interpretation of law,
Ending perhaps with only a bottle of water
To soothe a strained throat.
Meals are skipped
So justice may not be.
So a legal challenge can be explained,
So the law may be seen at work.
Inside the courtroom, barristers clash fiercely,
Each vying for the jury’s attention.
Yet they exit as custodians of justice.
A barrister lives the law—
Thinks it, eats it, breathes it—
And signs off the day
In carefully chosen legal jargon.