Thieving Magpie

so obvious now

the memories were not lost

but stolen

 

“Singula de nobis anni praedantur euntes.”

(The years as they pass plunder us of one thing after another.)

—Horace, Book II, epistle ii, line 55.

[RK, 12/9/2020]

 

 

Quite Sure

I collect approbations and affirmations

and use them for inspiration

“Parturient montes, nascetur ridiculus mus.”

(The mountains will be in labor, and a ridiculous mouse will be brought forth.)

—Horace, Ars Poetica, line 139

[RK, 12/9/2020]

 

 

Teeter-Totter Revisited

the vacation account grows

days and seasons shrivel

“Nos numerus sumus et fruges consumere nati.”

(We are but numbers, born to consume resources.)

—Horace, Book I, epistle ii, line 27

[RK, 12/9/2020]

 

 

The Struggle is Real

if I told you I changed one line

would you notice?

“Brevis esse laboro, obscurus fio.”

(Struggling to be brief, I become obscure.)

—Horace, Ars Poetica

[RK, 12/9/2020]

 

 

Tolerance

I accept your condemnation

and immediately discard it

“Mediocribus esse poetis non homines, non di, non concessere columnae.”

(Mediocrity in poets has never been tolerated by either men, or gods, or booksellers.)

—Horace, Ars Poetica

[RK, 12/9/2020]

 

 

The Hunger Artist

so many unvisited graves

yet

I have no idea where they are

“Un homme se définit aussi bien par ses comédies que par ses élans sincères.”

( A man defines himself by his make-believe as well as by his sincere impulses.)

—Albert Camus, The Myth of Sisyphus

[RK, 12/9/2020]