It’s a Talisman

Statutory interpretation
sparing over the meaning,
the import of precision,
of a bit of administrative law
boiled down to the pith
the singular exchange,
the Chief and the Advocate
“It’s a talisman” then,
the magic of being in the system
even for a day, some time
in the process,
hyperbole to check, to prove,
to punch the ticket,
to test the argument,
the thread of thought
teasing the meaning again
of the words, the phrase
the condition,
in oral arguments again

October 3, 2007 16:18
Oral Arguments, Board of Education of the City School District of the City of New York v. Tom F., on Behalf of Gilbert F., a Minor Child, 06-637, October 1, 2007 (1st Monday in October)
http://www.supremecourtus.gov/oral_arguments/argument_transcripts/06-637.pdf, page 35 of 68, line 16 (Paul G. Gardephe, Esq.).