by Barbara Loots
Yes, there are certain legends
you aim to stand among:
Caligula and Nero,
Hitler and Mao Tse Tung,
Attila and Genghis
and Stalin, for a few—
But the dumpster of world history
will pile some shit on you,
Until, like all things rotten,
you sink into the slime,
Soon buried and forgotten
in the lightning speed of time .
From towers and casinos,
your name will be erased,
Your merch and memes abandoned,
your gold decor replaced.
Your “legend” will be murky
with cruelty and vice,
And, as you’ve often put it,
that isn’t very nice.
Barbara Loots is retired but not retiring in Kansas City, Missouri. In addition to appearances in literary magazines (eg. I-70 Review, Pulsebeat) and anthologies (eg. Love Affairs At the Villa Nelle) she serves as book review editor for Light Poetry Magazine online. Three collections can be found on Amazon.
