Textbooks, reference material, all around.
Towering above a desk that buckles
Beneath the weight of notes and empty mugs
The day passes by in a blur, unseen.
Just four more hours to the dreaded deadline
Then three, then two, oh no! Now it is here.
Where did all the time go? Oh yes, that’s right
It slipped away into the night while I
Looked in vain for non-existant case law.
So now, with heart attempting an escape,
I press ‘submit’, beginning the torment
That comes with waiting for my tutor’s mark
It’s worth ten percent of my total grade
And every little point makes a difference.
Maybe I should have read English instead?

The Court of Chancery as drawn by Augustus Charles Pugin (died 1832) and Thomas Rowlandson (died 1827) for Ackermann's Microcosm of London (1808-11), via Wikimedia Commons

The common law, it favours clarity
But it was burdened by rigidity
And so the King created equity
He said this new law will set you all free
If the common law will not hear your plea
Then turn instead to Courts of Chancery
Perhaps here the judge will tend to your needs
But note: clear of all sin your hands must be
If you are to succeed in equity

'Old Style Post Box' by me, via Flickr

I order parcels from across the world
Packets, boxes, large and small, they all come to
My house by postman or that is the idea
I check the mail and find a card that tells a lie
We’re sorry, it says, we called but you were out
I was not out! I waited in for you!
Now I will have to choose: do I ring up
Or do I go and get the blasted thing
Myself, which means doing their job for them?
In which case should I charge them for my time?