What made Catherine the Great
The Great
instead of merely The Terrible
aristocrat?
Great is not her messianic
multiculturally inclusive
democratic therapeutic intent
Which is a surprisingly ubiquitous delusion
of win/lose
all or nothing LeftBrain
Either deductive persuasive Truth
Or inductive synergetic trust
and lust for Beauty
Rather than win/win
RightBrain co-operative
intuitive BothTruth/AndBeauty
Yang/Yintegral
bilateral Great Climaxes
bicamerally integrating
dialectical InEgo/OutOther
co-empathic consciousness
Actively
curiously
courageously listening
for cooperative
co-passionate
co-governing Greatness
Not quite so
Business As Usual
patriarchal
hierarchical
capital-commodity invested
in StraightWhiteMale privilege
Kinda Terrible
terrifying
aristocratic entitlement.
Certainly not Catherine the Great of Russia, she’s
too fierce although she’d surely have put Putin in his place.
While Catherine Deneuve fired my adolescent Id, she
and Catherine Zeta-Jones are way out of my league.
As a Canadian, I love Schitt’s Creek, but it isn’t Catherine O’Hara,
nor Catherine Bush, better known as Kate, whose songs we adore.
I know you’d choose Katherine Hepburn, not for her Oscars.
but because she was a” K” Katherine just like you, although
it’s your middle name and only I get to call you that.
She had no idea what a fantastic legacy of enlightenment she left
She was assertive woman who took no guff from any mortals.
Her self-confidence was well known; she was feared by men.
She gladly overthrew her husband and her cousin to get power
Perhaps she sensed she would only live to the age of sixty-seven.
But she decided she had a lot of work to do. She hired artists and poets.
Surrounded herself with sculptors, dancers, singers and, orators.
She uplifted women in a variety of ways, bringing them out of their darkness.
She created Smolny Institute, the first college for women in Europe.
She wanted the others to get ahead like she had when she became Empress.
Catherine earned her name; she surrounded herself with free thinkers.
Her coup d’état paid off; Russia became alive with culture and new ideas.
Catherine was a nurturer, a mother, soon known as Catherine the Great.
Almost four hundred years ago, and yet we recognize her term as golden.
Still to this day, we call her reign “the Golden age of Russia”.
A versatile, liberal minded woman who traded her wifehood for power.
1762 Catherine the Great:
"Moi, je serai autocrate: c'est mon métier.
Et le bon Dieu me pardonnera:
c'est son métier."
2017 Donald John Trump:
"Me, I will be an autocrat
That is my job
And God will forgive me
That is His job!"
Plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose.
la folle of chaos I was called as my mother told me me I was catherine of Alexandria
what do I know of history as learning every day what tomorrow will bring
and if a horse I'll be Catherine the great ruining your life with my plunder
as enlightened with a vision i am selfish to trot the planets of my dreams
A czarina whose needs couldn’t wait.
Rumored to have a private stable,
with horses….if her Cossacks weren’t able.
For the clerihew 2 contest
PEE WEE HERMAN
Thought cops wouldn’t determine,
he put himself in that popcorn box.
Maybe he should have used his socks.
HOWARD HUGHES
A world famous recluse.
Millions for planes, women and cars,
treasured most his urine in jars.
CATHERINE THE GREAT
A czarina whose needs couldn’t wait.
Rumored to have a private stable,
with horses…. if her Cossacks weren’t able.
AESOP
May his fables never stop,
true treasures among many Greek joys.
Whereas Socrates, Plato, chose educating boys.
GEORGE WASHINGTON
Add to the amazing things he’s done,
was never caught chewing a mint wreath,
while mixing politics and funky breath from wood teeth.
PONCE de LEON
I hate to tell you son,
you searched Florida for the fountain of youth.
AARP there first, how’d you miss the booth.
MARILYN MONROE
There’s a girl I wanted to know.
It could’ve worked out fine,
if Bobby and Jack didn’t head the line
Although I was born and raised among German aristocracy,
I feel I have blended rather well with Russian nobility.
My name changed when I converted to Russian Orthodoxy.
I am now called Catherine. I was once known as Sophie.
Despite my mother being banished from the country,
Tsarina Elizabeth looks quite favorably upon me.
However, one major item exists where I must disagree.
Duke Peter of Holstein-Gottorp is matched up with me.
Since his aunt Tsarina Elizabeth called him to court,
he has been consistent with each unwitting retort.
This buffoon has alienated many as we have few friends.
Unfortunately, he will become tsar when Elizabeth’s life ends.
He is obnoxious, overbearing, and possesses the dullest mind.
Peter can only become a tsar of the worst kind.
Besides, he is ugly with all those scars from smallpox.
He has them on his face, arms, legs, and even his buttocks.
Peter is supposed to be the sovereign of the Russians.
However, he surrounds himself with Holsteins and Prussians.
I should dispose of this menace. There has to be a way.
I must rule Russia alone as a tsarina one day.
Catherine II (aka Catherine the Great) ruled Russia from 1762 to 1796.
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