A Byzantine Mosaic

2021

A she-wolf at the Milvian Bridge
Cried:  ‘My kingdom for a boat!’
Then she suckled, tho’ ‘twas sacrilege
Every Roman who could float.
When Uncle Remus killed Br’er Rabbit,
He plagiarized tar baby’s story.
This antebellum Latin habit
Raised Brutus to an allegory.
‘Twas heard (The Babylonian Whore
Of fratricide) knocking at the door!
Richard the Third, Shakespearean sage,
Bade his Venetian: ‘Bring me Caesars!’
Thus Othello, his sagacious page,
Retook the stage with Richmond’s tweezers.
When Dandolo forced the French to brook
The gallic ghost in Saint Raspail’s book,
The auspices of Zeus’s thunder
Went up in smoke in rape and plunder.
Grey Seljuk Wolves, provoked and prowling,
Are camping on our doorsteps growling.
When walls are breeched and platelets scatter,
Does Murder By Injection matter?