In a dream I heard birds speak.
'See the courtroom and the judge on the dias?
Surely this is the foundation of criminal
justice.' There was a burst of throaty

agreement. Suddenly, the ground groaned
and the birds shrieked. The earth spoke
with lips of sand and a tongue of dust.
'I am the foundation upon which
all things rest. The murdered woman,
the mass graves hidden away.'

Bone Lady, Bone Lady,
What do you see?
Arm bone, leg bone,
do they hold the key?

'the homeless man, his only memorial
a knife rising from his chest.

'I brace the witnesses, I cup the tears
of mourners, and drink in the sighs
of those who believe all life is precious.'

Mourners, witnesses,
and those who care,
Tell me, tell me,
what would you say?
'They ended a life,
how do they dare! '

'I wait for those who listen
for the dead to tell their stories.
In good part, this is the bedrock
upon which it all rests. Without
these justice is but an empty bag
flapping in the wind.'

Mary Naylor

http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/fundament-ii-revised/