Discernment

 Secret paths

forward leapt,

boughs spring open

gate shuts fast.

 

Open door

thieves implore,

closed door

grow no more.

 

Private garden

invite to visit,

prying eyes

ought resist it.

 

Open windows

no defense,

closed windows

self-argument.

 

Shameful content

shared in measure,

sacred hearts

protect forever.

 

Open exam

progress together,

closed society

festered tether.

 

Chessboard strategy

revealed piecemeal,

queen’s gambit

always concealed.

 

Open the future

the only option,

close the past,

Impossible task.

 

Pandora’s box

full of ills,

hope included

an overdue bill.

 

Open and closed

hide and seek,

less the child’s pique

accuracy become conceit.

 

Legal rights as abstractions

no surety of right actions,

discretion hushed silence

discernment passion.

 

Insiders smug, afraid

secret organizations deceit,

outsiders lonely, afraid

nothing to parade.

by John A. Zeier