(To be read pretentiously and pedantically.)<\/p>\n
Reciprocity he knows:
\nTit-for-tats. Quid-pro-quos.
\nHe tallies up each debt repaid;
\nStrives to keep a promise made,
\nCosts defrayed, his options weighed;
\nDoes the work to make the grade;
\nAnd always couples \u201cfree\u201d with \u201ctrade.\u201d
\nThe duple logic of his mind
\nWould let no beggar go unfined.<\/p>\n
Should disputations come to blows,
\nHe always bloodies nose for nose.
\nShould passions wane, he has a knack
\nFor handing failing friends the sack.
\nAnd so he tightens up the slack,
\nHe fills the crack, he pays them back;
\nA balance monomaniac,
\nSettling each debt or grudge,
\nHe tests the scales and weighs the judge.<\/p>\n
Blocks of granite in repose
\nHave no choice but to oppose
\nPressures delicate or coarse:
\nGranite\u2019s something he\u2019d endorse.
\nBasic physics is his source
\nIn seeing life as countered force:
\nMatter, elbowed from its course,
\nElbows back\u2014in Newton\u2019s writ\u2014
\nEqually, and opposite.<\/p>\n
An exegesis would disclose
\nThe life he chose: like Latin prose,
\nFixed, decided, preterite.
\nThat ethics of exchange admit
\nNo novel coin, no counterfeit\u2014
\nHe\u2019s sure of it. And sure he\u2019ll sit,
\nSunk in his inertial pit,
\nBy no assault his ramparts split,
\nBy no new star his heavens lit,
\nBy no means willing to permit
\nHis thralldom to be manumit.
\nNo will, no wish to overcome
\nConundrum equilibrium.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
(To be read pretentiously and pedantically.) Reciprocity he knows: Tit-for-tats. Quid-pro-quos. He tallies up each debt repaid; Strives to keep a promise made, Costs defrayed, his options weighed; Does the work to make the grade; And always couples \u201cfree\u201d with \u201ctrade.\u201d The duple logic of his mind Would let no beggar go unfined. Should disputations […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[56],"tags":[124],"class_list":["post-1993","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-writing","tag-writing-2"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.swaine.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1993","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.swaine.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.swaine.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.swaine.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.swaine.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1993"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"http:\/\/www.swaine.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1993\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3212,"href":"http:\/\/www.swaine.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1993\/revisions\/3212"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.swaine.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1993"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.swaine.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1993"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.swaine.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1993"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}