Hysteron Proteron: A Poem by Gilbert L. Gigliotti

I didn’t know Homer

when I first met Vergil.

Our meeting was arch, mis-

placed cartfuls

(fraternal walls

             Hannibal’s herds  

             salt-strewn cities  

             Cleopatra’s asp 

             murderous Ides  

             an august son)

well before the horse.

“Duty” I recognized

but had yet to

                        acquire

that shimmering selfish

                        Achaean

Dr. Gilbert L. Gigliotti is a professor of English and Latin at Central Connecticut State University and the Immediate Past President of ClassConn.