April 2, 2025

(In honor of Liberation Day)

The Paupers' Grave*

Every king designates a burial ground:

The potential in the paupers' grave,

A place to leave the vessels

Of thousands of opportunities lost.

There aren't just brains rotting here,

But also the specters of ideas,

Collisions of fate that could light the way

For the future of his race.

Somewhere on the path from conception

Unmarked steles and plain white crosses

Become the only recognition

Of the life lived but unfulfilled.

His highness hedges his visits to the graves,

Allows his henchmen to do his bidding.

Lime goes well with the humiliation,

After all, the stench must be overtaken.

*Inspiration coming in part from The Black Swan: The Impact of the Highly Improbable by Nassim Nicholas Taleb.