Friday, May 24, 2013

Mind The Flame, Not The Centurion

Awaken, oh daughter of Vesta
Your morning repast awaits.
Awaken, oh daughter of Vesta,
Come forth and learn your fate.

A lamp, cooked beans on a plate
Child of Vesta, it's much too late;
New mason's-work and water a-jugged.
Awaken, oh daughter of Vesta:
It's because of the soldier you hugged.

("Written" as an impromptu spoken poem to wake up Tamara for breakfast; started with the first line and it just grew.  More-or-less historically-accurate, too.)

12 comments:

New Jovian Thunderbolt said...

still feverish, huh?

Fuzzy Curmudgeon said...

Actually, that's genius.

But there probably should have been something in there about bacon. That would have worked a treat, I'm thinking.

Old NFO said...

Hell, I'm not 'that' coherent after TWO pots of coffee! Well done Lady!!!

Sdv1949 said...

Very nice. Now tell us more about Tam's "soldier," please.

Drang said...

Wait a minute! Tam's going to be buried alive?

Anonymous said...

Does this mean she's a Vestal Virgin?

gfa

Fuzzy Curmudgeon said...

Aw jeez. You went there.

roberta x remotely said...

More of a "keeper of the flame." Also, Rome's armies included the Navy and (one might suppose) Marines, so "soldier" is even less informative than it appears.

Tam will bury herself in the covers if she is not minded to waken, which was the actual inspiration.

Drang said...

Ah.

IIRC, and FWIW, the Roman Marines were largely, if not entirely, freedmen.
(Pretty sure it was Tamara who first pointed me at the books about ancient Rome by Steven Dando-Collins. Good stuff!)

akornzombie said...

May I have permission to quote this?

Roberta X said...

Sure, with attribution!

Anonymous said...

Lucky soldier!