HORACE'S BIRTHDAY
Dec. 8 65 BC-8 BC

Why did taking Latin
for four years
ignore Horace's odes
considered too controversial
in his textual codes
for a chorus of children
and yet we see quotes
patterns and traces
from his sexy verse
on commercials today
as he influenced Dryden
and the moderns
like Hopkins, Housman
and Auden's universe
in his "Blame Poems"
with its disarming verse
of lyrical satires or scandal
from whom musicals
are still inspired
in Manhattan's Broadway
we desire his charm
on his birthday
December 8th
for a clever poet
never retires
for heaven's sake
or puts the candles out
on his fiery Roman cake.