LPiA-22 Nov. 6

[Tiger the Lion]

Let's Pretend it's April - Nov. 6


Rules: Write a poem for LPiA on the topic or form described. Each poem should appear as a separate reply to this thread. The goal is to, at the end of the month have written 30 poems for the month of November. 

Topic : Write a poem about an historical or mythological figure that you feel was overrated. 

Form : Any
Line requirements: 8 or so

Feel free to reply with comments or kudos as you wish. 

Questions?

A reminder that everyone is welcome to participate, and that 4 in 30 days is better than zero in 30 days. Game on. 
Also, a reminder that you can catch up as you wish. 

[dukealien]

Margaret Mead (1901-1978)


Overrated equally
by critics and idolaters
she wrote on topics made to seem
significant by her attention to them–
mad woman-scientist or knowing crone–
when in fact she merely had
(like her pet Samoan juveniles)
a bit too much exposure.

[Semicircle]

Grendel the victim

Beowulf was the most powerful Geat
and so, his enemies fell easy, or by
lucky coincidence, fell on their own.
With mythic sword and sheer luck,
creatures of “evil,” hacked down to

extinction – a good mercenary.
As a hero, good too, strict of code, but
without struggle, Grendel died to his hands.
Big and misunderstood – an obstacle.

[RiverNotch]

The Inconvenient Ones


Every great effort throughout history
was a team effort. Unfortunately
it's terribly inconvenient to remember
more than a handful (or less!) of names
for every remotely memorable event.
So remember: your great villains of today,
from Musk to Trump to Putin, in time may be
no more than just the inconvenient ones.

[TranquillityBase]

Somewhere in Hell
there must be a circle for the overrated
where a barefooted Thomas Edison 
has to do his experiments
all by himself, testing 6,000 types of filaments
for his lightbulb without the aid 
of his army of forgotten employees at Menlo Park,
and each time one of them fails,
Topsy, the electrocuted elephant,
steps on his toes, and all this happens
in front of an carnival audience
of all the stray animals he murdered
before it was Topsy’s turn.
And there’s no bamboo in Hell,
so the experiments never end.

[CRNDLSM]

Everyone knows his solos.
The same solo every song.
The guild made them choose a name
From a member in the band.
Carlos Santana blues band.
Sure I love some of his songs
The band was great without him.
I think he makes shoes now because he knows that.

[Mark A Becker]

Somewhere in Hell

---

Hey Tim- I've been reading through the submissions, and came upon this one.  It jolted me (pun intended) to realize just how cruel Edison was.  Thanks for the history lesson in the form of a brilliantly executed short poem. 
Mark

[Mark A Becker]

I think Jesus
would be amused (or not)
to find that he has been made
equal to God. 3-in-1,
like the oil.

He may even think,
"where'd that idea come from?
They haven't even figured out
my real skin color."