Palindrome: Roma summus amor

The emperor Aurelian

Saint Valentine—whose “acts”

mirror the res gestae (or "facts")

about Saints Marius and Martha,

supposèd Persian pilgrims,

put to death in the Colosseum,

during the Lupercalia,

(a pagan festival of love,

marriage, and fertility) this day,

in the crisis of the Third Century,

together with their sons,

Saints Audifax and Abachum—

is just . . . a sort of carbon copy.

Martyrdom's an industry

in the hemorrhaging empire,

whose ruler will in 275 CE

be murdered by his guards

on his way to war with Iran,

to "make Rome greater again."

Oh, confounded palindrome,

Roma summus amor,*

but slaughter is the butcher's tax!

All we can do is, as before, to roam.

Happy Saint Abachum’s Day!

Why won't you be my Audifax?

*Ancient Roman graffito: "Rome's all of love." https://www.nytimes.com/1973/01/21/archives/its-a-graffito-in-latin-and-its-a-palindrome.html?smid=url-share.

Friday, February 14, 2025