Briseis Reappears – Deus Ex Machina

A Work in Progress
106

Donal opened it up and there she was on screen

password in hand, Briseis, speaking from his laptop

his hearing aids bluetoothed to a device elsewhere

he fumbled for connection while she unbuttoned her blouse

to show off a t-shirt emblazoned to arouse

“Resist” her t-shirt said

“Liberté, Égalité, Fraternité”

Then he heard her voice

“No need to connect I’ve hacked your Bluetooth

 I’ve upgraded your Phonaks 

They’ll always switch to my voice when I’m calling

I’m in Minneapolis

It’s time to sweep the city clean

bring leaf blowers bring snow blowers

shoulder to shoulder we’ll sweep the streets clean

we’ll advance against pepper spray blow it right back

if they shoot at us, we’re armed with a right to fight back

we’re a free people we’ve sworn an oath 

we’ll sweep the streets clean

it’s time to de-ice”

Dick Russell © Richard M Russell

                        2026

 

On Productivity

A Work in Progress
105

On average, Virgil wrote about three lines day

Making Aeneid book by book for his patron

Uninterrupted by the Internet’s plectron

A pen and papyrus did suffice to write on

Each book transcribed onto a scroll by hand

Good work for copyists in those ignorant times

While Virgil strolled his farm picking lemons and limes

Avoiding grappling with Roman rules of rhyme

Owing his productivity to a slave economy

Slaves did the work while he wrote to survive

Now editors are deaf to words that don’t jive

They should want proof an author of work is alive

Not a robot employed by an hyperscaler

Creating fiction from fact to make it spicier

Happily reversing a creeping glacier

To focus attention on unbuttoning a brassiere

Whatever can excite be flagged now trending

In a world depending on its digital slaves 

To keep it distracted from the actions of knaves

Supplying pap for whatever masses crave

Were some counterfeits? those scrolls that were made 

As some content today is invented bot spin

Did Virgil suffer identity theft Latin

Someone spinning epic tales stolen from his bin

Each book copied multiple times

For sale to Rome’s far-flung intelligentsia

In Alexandria even far Brittania

A tale of gods heroes desertion mania

His productivity was never an issue

He had enough time to become expert on bees

Did he write a primer on how to prune trees

While he imagined a story of how Rome came to be?

Dick Russell © Richard M Russell 

                       2026

Catullus and the Coup

A Work in Progress
104

A coup’s coming, Catullus said, running to escape

They’re coming for me for the things I’ve said

I passed on as fact the fact he wore a diaper

I marveled how his madness made made-men cower

Few mostly women defied his power

Now corporate bigwigs brave his glower

Smelling his visible physical decay

Thinking of future outcomes 

The next act of the play

A coup’s coming, Catullus said, now I’m on the run

They’re coming for you too because of things you’ve read

They’ll revoke your citizenship 

Some shit hole country will know your name

Nobody’s to know Caesar’s insane

His dementia’s in overdrive he’s gone big brain

He thinks he’s a god, they’re going to make him one

That’s the coup that’s coming

Why I’m on the run

Dick Russell © Richard M Russell

                   2025