A Privilege Working with You

The power to say yes,
The right of refusal—
They were always fictions

Like all privileges.
Every right is a contract
In negotiations

Between ascending and
Descending groups with strength
Left to negotiate.

Even when the contract
Claims to be forever
Settled law, it’s never

Over. The distinction
Between privileges
And rights is only one

Between the special kind
Of privilege only
Certain people can have

And the grand privilege
Granted to everyone.
Inalienable?

So as long as the contract
Negotiations last
Without another war.