Opportunity, by Edward R. Sill 1887
This I beheld or dreamed in a dream.
There spread a cloud of dust along a plain, and underneath or in it raged a furious battle, and men yelled, swords shocked against swords.
A prince’s banner wavered and then staggered backward hemmed in by the foe.
A coward hung along the battle’s edge.
He thought, “had I a sword of keener steel, that blue blade that the King’s son barred for example – but this blunt thing.”
And he snapped and flung his sword from his hand.
And lowering he crept away and left the field.
But then came the King’s son, wounded sore, besought and weaponless, and he saw the broken sword.
The hilt buried in the dry and sodden sand.
And he ran and snatched it, and with a battle shout, lifted afresh, he hued his enemies down.
And he saved a great cause that heroic day.
Hilt: A sword’s handle.
Everyone gets the same tools of war in court. They are identical for both sides.
The rules have been honed for hundreds of years and are sharper than any two-edged sword; even sharper than the King’s son’s blue blade. If you don’t know your state’s rules, your opponent will cut you to ribbons. Your goal is to use the rules to block your opponent’s evidence and testimony. The rules are your sword and shield.
Bill Johnson