04-28-2024, 06:33 AM
The Imperial Business
They call me Emperor.
And so I am, lord of all
I can survey, though
as it tends to be this time of year
distinctly dark.
But I do not need to see:
my court stands all around me,
tail-coated in slick black
and glistening white
our golden mustachios
a bit eclipsed from lack of light
but warm, there’s that in numbers–
not “huddled,” we prefer
to say “close-order.”
True, my Empress is off fishing
flying rapturously in dark waters
others would call “frigid” but
relative to my present situation
hot enough to brew tea...
belly-tobogganing for joy.
Getting her figure back
that is, her darling plumpness.
As for me, I’ve great advantages
over human Emperors:
for one thing all my regal brothers
stand within squawking distance–
no disastrous telegraph games
or diplomatic notes
to mislead and miscarry.
And unlike poor Franz-Josef
I’ve no worries
of heirs going mad
or getting shot by lunatics:
I have my little Grand Duke
or Grand Duchess
safely incubating right here on my foot
while the Southern Lights
weave silent fireworks.
They call me Emperor.
And so I am, lord of all
I can survey, though
as it tends to be this time of year
distinctly dark.
But I do not need to see:
my court stands all around me,
tail-coated in slick black
and glistening white
our golden mustachios
a bit eclipsed from lack of light
but warm, there’s that in numbers–
not “huddled,” we prefer
to say “close-order.”
True, my Empress is off fishing
flying rapturously in dark waters
others would call “frigid” but
relative to my present situation
hot enough to brew tea...
belly-tobogganing for joy.
Getting her figure back
that is, her darling plumpness.
As for me, I’ve great advantages
over human Emperors:
for one thing all my regal brothers
stand within squawking distance–
no disastrous telegraph games
or diplomatic notes
to mislead and miscarry.
And unlike poor Franz-Josef
I’ve no worries
of heirs going mad
or getting shot by lunatics:
I have my little Grand Duke
or Grand Duchess
safely incubating right here on my foot
while the Southern Lights
weave silent fireworks.
Non-practicing atheist