“Scherven brengen geluk!”* they say
in Dutch—consoling all the more
This klutz, who'd broken on his way
Much stuff by 2024.
Rome in Italy's got a mound,
or hill, of antique pottery
Smashed before empire ran aground:
“Testaceo”—Mount “dei Cocci.”
Witness till the last century
of this anthropocentric time:
Good luck’s but temporary;
Misfortunate the Roman line.
Careless, I rap a glass on wood.
It breaks, the dear delicate thing.
I’d meant it no harm! But good.
Hard luck’s sapiential earning.
*"Shards bring luck!" The German version of this saying, which implies that luck = happiness, is “Scherben bringen Glück!”