Themis

​That military losses come
    Is sure when empires falter,
But when the rules of law succumb
    'Tis very hard to alter:
The poor go begging for a crumb
    But only find a halter.

A frivolous captain at the helm
    Is driven toward fiasco;
When circumstances overwhelm
    He's nobody to ask O— 
But the convulsions of a realm
    Are not soothed by Tabasco.

When wounds are self-inflicted there's
    No way to lend shit polish,
As when a faction, self-awares
    Opts fair play to abolish,
But, owl-like, every man repairs
    To small game, feeling owlish.

The scales of justice Themis holds
    Skew wild when you assault her;
A Mitch McConnell scolds and scolds,
    Himself virtue's defaulter;
And empires crash, when honor folds,
    Like waves into Gibraltar.