Day at the Opera

Beneath Old Glory

in U.S. Capitol rotunda

where Abraham Lincoln the great

Emancipator lay 155 years ago,

RBG, Ruth Bader Ginsburg

the great Equalizer rests, finally.

Her soul has risen and joined

her colleague Antonin Scalia, 

the great Originalist,  for

today's Opera by Denyse Graves.

The two Justices hover above, like angels,

tears trail down heir ghostly faces

"Her voice comes straight rom the Lord,"

he says, wiping cheek with his gown sleeve.

"Yes, from the heart," says RBG. "But why 

do you make the Creator a man? How

do you know?"

"Ah, Ruthie," "You're up to

your old tricks. You never give up."

"Tony," she says, "You are the trickster."

They both laugh.

"Isn't it wonderful," he opines. "We hold firm our

principles, yet revel in passion with

the aria, so profound."

RBG replies with judge's resolve,

"Art is from heaven and surpasses opinion,"

"That note you left about your greatest

wish, that your seat not be filled before

the election. Did you really believe 

the President would honor that?"

"Tony, funny you should bring that up. I

truly believed I would not be watching

this performance. But just in case, I

wrote it down."

"You know Ruthie, we are given chances 

to act honorably or not. Man is imperfect and

will too often grasp his own advantage first

and construct an argument to defend himself."

"Tony, you know my position regarding equality

for all. How can we find fairness if we stack

the deck before listening to the all the players? 

The game is skewed for generations."

"Denyse really has some pipes," says Tony, 

returning the subject to opera, gazing over the

solemn scene below them as her magnificent

voice resounds reaching every corner of the room

and viscera within the body.

 

He leans in and whispers, "You're right."

"

"