It is time for Obiter to bring a bit of culture into readers' lives.


Simon Lee, a solicitor in the community regeneration team at Birmingham firm Anthony Collins, competes in 'poetry slams' and is a would-be poet law-reate.



These events are a form of competitive poetry reading where poets read out their work in heats and get scored by the audience and/or judges.



The winner of a heat goes through to the next round and so on, until an overall champion is unveiled.



Mr Lee, a member of the Birmingham-based poetry group Foot in the Door, reached third in the UK Allstars slam, which is part of the Cheltenham Literature Festival.



His entry was 'Poem Written For The Inaugural National "Love A Lawyer" Day', which goes as follows:



Some say solicitors are selfish, money-grabbing swine:

I say 'We're not like that! (all the time)'.

Some say we use Latin, and obscure-sounding

words

But to label lawyers 'vexatious verbalists' is an assertion quite absurd

And I must refute it,

Though it's true that some need no second

invitation to draft clauses without punctuation for the sake of clarity and legality.



Some lawyers love to litigate, some lawyers love to fight.

You may not know it, but a lawyer's always

righting

Letters and bills, seeking legal eagle thrills

Soliciting statutory serendipity

Whilst also drafting wills.



So please remember on today, the inaugural

national 'Love A Lawyer' Day

To love a lawyer: lawyers, love a lawyer for

lawyers need loving too

Please don't hurt a lawyer for we have feelings

too.

Lawyers: we're not just toys you can play with, then discard.

Lawyers, love a lawyer: is it really that hard?



We are human, it's true.

If you cut us we bleed

You

Need us, don't leave us. Please please us.

Lawyers, love a lawyer for lawyers need loving

too

Please just love a lawyer, come see what we

can do:

With a friendly wave and a friendly smile,

we're always running that extra mile.

We come in different shapes and sizes,

Full of fun and nice surprises,

Please love a lawyer because that's what I



Is.



Mr Lee will be appearing at a slam at the Solihull arts studio on 23 November at 7.30pm. To find out more information, email sithepoet@yahoo.co.uk.