Best Cicero Poems
"The budget should be balanced, the Treasury should be refilled, public debt should be reduced, the arrogance of officialdom should be tempered and controlled, and the assistance to foreign lands should be curtailed lest Rome become bankrupt. People must again learn to work instead of living on public assistance." Cicero , 55 BC
controversy over government nothing new
Civil War? oxymoron
in a country divided, there is no civility
protestors fume on Wall Street
Tea Partiers toss their caffeine into the mix
Federal Reserve makes unauthorized loans
but to whom we do not know
states debate seceding from the union
families learn to live on budgets
countries spend what they don’t have
why don’t we learn from history?
“Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s”
is there anything left for us?
look to Cicero and sages of the past
Plato and Socrates will set the disenfranchised straight too
*Entry for Brian’s “Anywhichway” contest
Habitually, feeling an itch to write,
I’m introspective: sitting at the table
over a blank sheet, cherishing my blight
and rust, I think: “What if I'll not be able
to write a single stanza anymore?
What if to chuck it all, to travel, omnia
mea mecum porto*… What is all this for:
the doubts, the all-nighters, the insomnia?
What if…" Oh, wonder! In my line of sight
I have the lines: “…feeling an itch to write,
I’m introspective”.
(lat.) "All that is mine I carry with me", the quote that Cicero ascribes to Bias of Priene.
25.10.2019
Itch, Witch, Glitch Or Twitch Poetry Contest
Sponsored by: Nina Parmenter
the reasoning the fishing in the trenches
beyond tire swings and monkey wrenches
follies crawl behind the hanging logos
of unseen filth across 124th street
tassels dangled above an oasis
of fine dining and soiled linen
over the board rooms covered
in a mesh of purple mustard
beckoning ancient aura solid creed
coming throughout hidden rivalry
tampered with ankara's answering service
gravely time passes abaundantly
coarse and yet shunned quietly
we remember the malitia moreover
we began a new wearing gray hoodies
offering our youth to silent the storm
that brewed inside a percolator
pot of copenhagan snuff chewing tobacco
screaming a cure for cancer shall rise
over bob marley's tears as we munster up
courage a courage of faith challenged
behind the wrecking ball of ground zero
we count one more time mon
freedom will soon come
in our most sinful hope
Ho ho ho, he he he, break that lute across my knee, and if the bard should choose to fight, why then I'll set his clothes alight!
when I next meet that fair maid Nelly, I'll plunge my knife into her belly
and if I spy a singing bird, I'll snap its neck before it's heard
madness is merry and merriment's might, when the jester comes calling with his knife in the night
and I said to the baker, "You're not dead! You're a faker! But if that's your wish, I'll oblige"
oh, if I chance to see a cat, I'll feed its corpse to my pet rat
"50 Words for Poe: Cicero"
On reflection
she should have used
Capone’s colt .38
which had been offered ...
at a price,
but the knife did
the trick just the same
She used it more than twice
Straight through
the Heart
of our anti-hero
in Room 101
Hotel Cicero
Weapon of Choice: 6 inch Italian Stiletto
Instead of Alcatraz
she found herself
haunting Asylum 666
doin’ ghost time from an early grave
counting skeleton bones and
playing marbles for sticks
She was now pleading her case
Dr Lucifer knew her game
Yes indeed, he understood
Life was a trick
(LadyLabyrinth/2019)
https://youtu.be/B1qQCFQCneA
Cell Block Tango
“...he ran into my knife 10 times. Not guilty”.
https://youtu.be/hdvIjmdHLEM
Miss Divine
Cicero!The life and death of a wise man.The sage of our time.An epitome of truth
and unparalleled hypertonic wisdom.A paradigm of a purist;a saintlike mortal.We
remember you today and always.Adieu!
Cicero!Oh!Cruel death,wicked pangs of death!You were cut down before your
prime ripe age by your enemies;envious of your progress and achievements
pretending to be oblivious of your gospel truth.Oh!We lost a real gem!
Cicero!You are destined to live forever if not for this mortal flesh of yours;always
threathened by the unknown and closely followed at the heels by death.Ready to
hark you down at your slightest wink.We shall celebrate you forever!
Cicero!Oh!Your pace from death was not fast and distant enough;death was
much clever and faster.Cutting you down with a thunderous unwelcomed
ovation.All to the surprise of your teeming wellwishers.We take solace in and will
ever cherish your noble achievements.
Cicero!You are not meant for this age!Your thinking,reasoning and focus is far
beyond those of your ertswhile competitors,detractors and enemies who had
only marked you down for death.Hm!Seriously envious of your person.We salute
and adore your brevity at all times.
Cicero!Your memory keeps lingering in our minds;too short a life to forget
forever.Everyday rolling by is like yesterday.We are constantly being struck daily
like thunder especially now that we are dawned by the stack realities of your wise
sayings and your swift existence.
Cicero!Your predictions of many years ago are like the day bright shiny stars,
stearing us at the faces;steaming the whole body system.Seriously waiting for
interpretation for its unusual appearance.Saddening!Who is to give the correct
interpretations?
Cicero!Oh!Pity you have the answer and solutions to our present problems and
predicament.The golden spoon is lost in the deep oceans!You have played your
path well; when you were least appreciated.Compatriots!Weep no more!The
sage is gone and gone forever!Take heart!
CATULLUS TRANSLATIONS
Catullus LXXXV: 'Odi et Amo'
loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch
1.
I hate. I love.
You ask, 'Why not refrain?'
I wish I could explain.
I can't, but feel the pain.
2.
I hate. I love.
Why? Heavens above!
I wish I could explain.
I can't, but feel the pain.
3.
I hate. I love.
How can that be, turtledove?
I wish I could explain.
I can't, but feel the pain.
Catullus CVI: 'That Boy'
loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch
See that young boy, by the auctioneer?
He's so pretty he sells himself, I fear!
Catullus LI: 'That Man'
This is Catullus's translation of a poem by Sappho of Lesbos
loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch
I'd call that man the equal of the gods,
or,
could it be forgiven
in heaven,
their superior,
because to him space is given
to bask in your divine presence,
to gaze upon you, smile, and listen
to your ambrosial laughter
which leaves men senseless
here and hereafter.
Meanwhile, in my misery,
I'm left speechless.
Lesbia, there's nothing left of me
but a voiceless tongue grown thick in my mouth
and a thin flame running south...
My limbs tingle, my ears ring, my eyes water
till they swim in darkness.
Call it leisure, Catullus, or call it idleness,
whatever it is that incapacitates you.
By any other name it's the nemesis
fallen kings, empires and cities rue.
Catullus 1 ('cui dono lepidum novum libellum')
loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch
To whom do I dedicate this novel book
polished drily with a pumice stone?
To you, Cornelius, for you would look
content, as if my scribblings took
the cake, when in truth you alone
unfolded Italian history in three scrolls,
as learned as Jupiter in your labors.
Therefore, this little book is yours,
whatever it is, which, O patron Maiden,
I pray will last more than my lifetime!
Catullus XLIX: 'A Toast to Cicero'
loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch
Cicero, please confess:
You're drunk on your success!
All men of good taste attest
That you're the very best—
At making speeches, first class!
While I'm the dregs of the glass.
Keywords/Tags: Catullus, Latin, English Translation, Rome, Roman, hate, love, pain, man, boy, Cicero, novel, book, books, god, gods, heaven