Tag Archives: history

Day 21 — Caesars: generic + specific

I really enjoyed writing yesterday’s poem based on Sunday’s NaPoWriMo prompt so have decided to try another florilegium. It’s helpful because there are lots of extraordinary mushrooms I’d like to write about but I don’t have the energy to do proper Case Studies on them all (& there’s probably not enough meat, in all their stories as well). Whereas a florilegium has the bonus of being concise — keeping me on task, cos I am something of an initial overwriter.

Plus a couple of the books I’m researching from have beautiful hand drawn illustrations of exactly the type that Sylvia Legris used for her original poems of this type.

The Factoid touches on a popular legend in Roman history — although how accurate it is, historians cannot agree as the sources are scant & somewhat contradictory.

[Disclaimer: Unlike yesterday there is no disclaimer because I have finally caught up. Yay!!!]

*****

fungilegium: Caesar’s Mushroom
Amanita caesarea

Red. Golden. Orange. Like sunsets. Tasty.
Supposedly reserved for Caesar’s table 
& breadbasket only. Yet the literature immediately
contradicts itself. As it’s found alongside 
old Roman roads. Courtesy the legions. Ave!

Most of its siblings. Look similar but
have poisoned hearts. So take care. 
Eat it. If you dare. But be aware.
It truly is a King’s Egg. Not a Death Cap
or Fly Agaric. Which could kill you quick.

We who are about to die et cetera & so on …

*****

Day 21 Factoid — Even Roman Emperors Make Bad Decisions

fungi, Claudius

i. While Alive
marry badly/unwisely : four times : the last to a highly ambitious woman : argue lots with her : just so she’s got adequate motivation : (as if making her son Emperor isn’t enough) : to do you in : banquet heartily : including mushrooms : (among your favourites) : watch a theatrical performance : consume whole bowl : of poisoned mushrooms : (possibly Amanita muscaria) : & when that doesn’t completely succeed : perhaps swallow : some poisoned gruel too : linger : a long time : painfully : before dying 

ii. After Death
senators snigger : as your stepson Nero : delivers the expected eulogy : perhaps not quite receiving the respect required : despite this : still achieve deification : although Seneca : somewhat mocked your passage to eternity : in a treatise loosely translated as : ‘The Pumpkinification of the Divine Claudius’ : in it you are depicted as : a bumbling fool : rejected by the gods : your literary counterpart : thinks himself worthy of Olympus : but the gods ridicule him : & he is unceremoniously : packed off to Hades — if only you’d : preferred figs instead

Day 03 – libraries: Alexandria + Congress

Poem about one of my very favourite things to daydream about…

*****

the Great Library

there’s a meme I love
you know you’re a book geek 
when you still get upset thinking about
the Library of Alexandria
& many are the times i’ve considered 
buying a t-shirt stating similar sentiments

there was another viral trend
first flagged a year or so ago
about how often men allegedly
thought about The Roman Empire 
(several times a week apparently)
but while i definitely enjoy daydreaming 
about both Ancient Rome & Athens
Alexandria remains my go-to contemplatory place

the Great Library of Alexandria 
shrouded in mystery, from its founding 
to its destruction a thousand years later
some say the massive, ancient library was
the single greatest accumulation 
perhaps 400,000 papyrus scrolls 
of human knowledge in history
up until that point

it burnt three times rather than 
one single conflagration
i) Caesar accidentally set fire to part of it
during his tête-à-tête with Pompey 
ii) several hundred years later a Christian 
Patriarch turned the Temple of Serapis 
into a church & repeated skirmishes
destroyed parts piecemeal   iii) & finally
Caliph Omar asserted the contents 
“either contradict the Koran, so they’re heresy, 
or they agree, so are superfluous” 
& thus the scrolls were used as tinder 
in the city’s bathhouses — supposedly taking 
six months for everything to burn away

it is this religious arrogance / ignorance
which most angers my bookdragon
for we’ll never know now what wisdom
we lost … what science was undone …
what stories forgotten … simply because 
zealots were too insecure in their own words
to allow contradictory ones to exist

*****

Factoid 3 – biggest modern library 

juxtaposition of red & blue

the Library of Congress 
in Washington, D.C.
is the world’s largest library

there are numerous interesting 
facts one could share about
this iconic institution 

— yet the thing I’m entertained by 
is the current irony involved in 
the juxtaposition of the words 

Library — & — Congress