I Take Solace in History

Issue 

I Take Solace in History

I take solace in history.
I could have been a galley salve,
sold on the auction block,
spiked by the Maiden
hung, drawn and quartered,
damned in the convict dock;
gassed by Nazis, disembowelled by Huns,
put to the stake by the inquisition
for a few harmless puns,
been cat food at the Colosseum,
prodded through the gate,
had my head placed on a pikestaff
or paraded on a plate;
been torn between horses as one
of Caligua's main courses ...
Instead, I'll go quietly mad in leafy suburbia.
I take solace in history.
Tug Dumbly

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