04-02-2026, 05:37 AM
inter caetera
When the pope gave Portugal lands to east of
his declared meridian they just grazed the
tip of South America’s ample bosom–
surely an error
which the wily Portuguese king corrected
in a treaty shifting the demarcation
westward to encompass the yet-undreamed-of
city of Rio
de Janeiro. So like a sun-browned smiling
Carioca sliding her sling down slightly
at bright Ipanema the Portuguese got
just what they wanted.
When the pope gave Portugal lands to east of
his declared meridian they just grazed the
tip of South America’s ample bosom–
surely an error
which the wily Portuguese king corrected
in a treaty shifting the demarcation
westward to encompass the yet-undreamed-of
city of Rio
de Janeiro. So like a sun-browned smiling
Carioca sliding her sling down slightly
at bright Ipanema the Portuguese got
just what they wanted.
Non-practicing atheist

