when i fall
plummeting
sure as an arrow
into the deep waters
of love
it doesn’t matter
that it’s black as the pit
my eyes are faulty
but my heart is sure

yet navigating by the heart
is a tricky business
akin to being a privateer
marauding the open ocean
for a prize

there is none warranted
to issue an act of grace
hence we
with no protection
are held accountable
for all we do

and in the court of love
judgment
albeit made by arbiters
with scant and often flawed
illumination
is not only swift
but final

no point in reappearing
in the ragged threadbare cloak
of the appellant
no point in moving for mistrial
for once the sentence
is pronounced
it is immutable
and graven in the record
for all time