Nobody Moves

No checkmate No surrender No cleared and open ground Only pieces under pressure And a board that holds them down They made a rule for the last mistake Then a rule for the rule Then a form for the exception Then a panel for review Then a duty to consider Then a right to be informed Then a note about the language Then a pledge to be reformed Every gate had a guardian Every path had a sign Every answer had a process Every process took its time No one meant to build a prison No one meant to lose the room They only kept on fixing exits Till the exits disappeared Every road has a warning Every door has a chain Every cure has a hearing Every fault has a name Every hand finds a reason To leave the wheel alone So they point and say “do this!” And nobody moves The cameras found a failure So the minister looked grave Said lessons must be learned here Said systems must be made Then came urgent guidance Then came re-review Then came the urgent launch date For a thing nobody could do The tabloids found the next one Before the first was understood The answer needed optics And the optics looked like good Action had to happen Action had to show So they built another doorway Through which no one could go Every road has a warning Every door has a chain Every cure has a hearing Every fault has a name Every hand finds a reason To leave the wheel alone So they point and say “do this!” And nobody moves They cannot take the rule back They cannot let it stand They cannot leave it toothless They cannot give it hands They cannot name the problem They cannot say they knew They cannot build a doorway Through the duties they accrue So they argue over labels For the thing they will not name And announce another framework For the management of flame No one pulls the lever No one cuts the wire No one wants the headline If the headline names the fire Every road has a warning Every door has a chain Every cure has a hearing Every fault has a name Every hand finds a reason To leave the wheel alone So they point and say “do this!” And nobody moves The king is not in danger The king is not free The board is full of cleverness And none of it can leave Every square is protected Every piece is pinned Every move has consequences So the game continues on No checkmate, no surrender No cleared and open ground Just the scholar’s stalemate turning Without a legal sound And someone in the corner Still certain what to do Says “just do this thing here” But “just” can’t make it done Consult Assess Review Comply Publish Pause Revise Deny They built a law for pressure They built a rule for fear They built a safer language For the thing that still was here They built a civic engine Out of caution, blame, and proof Then wondered why the engine Would not carry them from the room Every road has a warning Every door has a chain Every cure has a hearing Every fault has a name Every hand finds a reason To leave the wheel alone So they point and say “do this!” And nobody moves Every road has a warning Every door has a chain Every answer builds another Little room inside the frame Every hand finds a reason To leave the wheel alone So the country says “do this!” And nobody moves The king is not in danger The king is not free The board is full of cleverness And none of it can leave Every road has a warning Every door has a chain Every hand finds a reason To leave the wheel alone