Dreams of Cicero

Photo by Alex Azabache on Unsplash

It would appeal to and flatter
his sense of competitive vanity
if Cicero could know his version
of his era is largely the one
come down as received history.
But could he truly grasp that
all that remains of his Rome
are scattered ruins, a destruction
more profound and complete
then the burning of Carthage?
Scipio the Younger’s tears
the cautionary tale come true.

If we are (and are we?) optimistic
enough to believe there will be
humans in two thousand years
reading probably not these lines
but of our time, looking back
what scattered ruins will they
have to measure our presumption
we were offering forth to posterity
something more than our hubris?

— Matthew S. Spira © 2019