Stoop Labor, Catullus Complains

A Work in Progress
65

I’m crouched on the path picking ripe berries

not long before dusk when sunlight slants 

lighting huckleberry bushes making a hedge

mountain huckleberries with small leaves shining

like spears in the sun blueberries with larger leaves

easier to pick not stoop labor like huckleberries

half the size hiding under spreading fronds

that must be lifted to find ripe berries below

A sore back from stoop labor later 

I’ve fresh berries for breakfast

three quarts in the freezer

something to show for it

what did Caesar achieve?

They’ve scheduled a meeting 

it must be an intervention

are they coming to confront 

the big, beautiful bill boss?

There’s nobody at Court who will break the bad news

tell him he’s deteriorating prognosis not good

for the good of his party, it’s time to move on 

instead, they want a mad King for good

He’s still sane enough his staff won’t cross him

world leaders that meet him keep a straight face

they see massive stupidity needing to be on TV

a madman controlled only by flattery 

for two and a half hours with no break for lunch

what did Caesar gain by his one on one

he can’t sustain a thought for more than a minute

before he must go back to long held grievances

how he was victimized by Russia-gate, Obama

I’m crouched on the path picking ripe berries

not long before dusk when sunlight slants 

mulling it over how to deal with insanity

when it is a supposéd leader of humanity.

Dick Russell © Richard M Russell

                        2025