My mind is stage to boisterous debate
All sides have power equally to sway
And what sounds clear and reasonable today
May soon seem inchoate and wanting weight.
I can't adjudicate their contretemps
No more than ocean skiff can tame the wave
Must I, then, brace myself and let them rave?
Or will them all to melt like neiges d'antan?
I muat mKW peace with every raucous guest
So tolerance must be my guiding light
That's not the same as impartiality:
I'm not constrained to treat them equally.
Without my choosing favorites in their fight,
I'll attend and feed the daemons I trust best.
--JJM = #27 from the I Ching Sonnet Project