Where are their Bones?


A Roman wrote,

Out of Africa
always something new.

He may have meant those novel beasts
he saw in the Arena
fighting for their lives
surprised by crowds and jeers
and sharpened steel.

Some were unknown both then and now
extinct within man’s dominance
too young to fossilize...
where are their bones?

Dead flesh of species
thrown to dogs and swine
served as delicacies at Nero’s table
but where are the bones?

Were they ground to meal
perhaps incorporated
in cheap statuary or do they exist
in some sunken catacomb
worked to nitre by the Tiber
lost even to forgetting?

Hello Duke,

There are some interesting ideas floated in this poem that make for an engaging read.

It is plainly put, quite literally, and the message is crystal clear.
'where are their bones?' - I'm not sure if their bones would naturally survive (for perhaps, 2000 years) - but special conditions might preserve them - air-locked in mud pools or glaziers etc?

And if the flesh is being fed to the dogs, why not the bones? - a possible answer to the mystery?

I like the last verse, regarding the possible fate of the bones, and perhaps this idea can be expanded on - the bones that were thrown away and naturally preserved - and lay undiscovered.

Thanks for sharing...............P

“Lost even to forgettin”
“Extinct within man’s dominance”
“Worked to nitre by the Tiger”

Nicely evocative
Enjoyed the read.

Also makes me wonder if the Justinian plague was caused by a taste for exotics beasts...

(12-10-2020, 06:22 AM)busker Wrote:  “Lost even to forgettin”
“Extinct within man’s dominance”
“Worked to nitre by the Tiger”

Nicely evocative
Enjoyed the read.

Also makes me wonder if the Justinian plague was caused by a taste for exotics beasts...

Thanks! Glad it's working. As to plague...

(12-10-2020, 01:38 PM)dukealien Wrote:  

(12-10-2020, 06:22 AM)busker Wrote:  “Lost even to forgettin”
“Extinct within man’s dominance”
“Worked to nitre by the Tiger”

Nicely evocative
Enjoyed the read.

Also makes me wonder if the Justinian plague was caused by a taste for exotics beasts...

Thanks!  Glad it's working. As to plague...

The Roman writer was Pliny the Elder, who died during the eruption of Vesuvius in AD 79.  The Plague of Justinian first reached the Roman Empire in AD 541, apparently from points east.  But feasting on exotics might have had something to do with it, though as I recall, Plague is native to small plains rodents.  Fried shrew?

I noticed some howlers in my reply...one of the hazards of typing on a mobile screen, no matter how large.
My bad - the Justinian plague was indeed caused by Yersina Pestis. At least, that's the consensus until testing some newly discovered corpses in Istanbul prove that it was some cocktail of COVID and the bubonic plague. I'm sure that would make some academic's career.
It is some of the other great plagues whose causes are not completely well understood. These include the Athenian plague and the Antonine plague. 
The Athenian plague may have been an outbreak of Ebola, although that couldn't have been caused by beasts out of Africa. 

The moral of the story is, eat vegetables. Drive an electric car. And install solar panels on your roof.

This is about one of my favorite subjects, one of the many underbellies of Rome.  I read that when they excavated a pit where the dead Arena animals were buried, there were so many that the smell of rotting flesh was still strong.

But about the poem, my only gripe is "fighting for their lives" which seems cliche.  Otherwise, this is a vivid trip to an interesting final stanza.

(02-03-2021, 02:16 AM)TranquillityBase Wrote:  This is about one of my favorite subjects, one of the many underbellies of Rome.  I read that when they excavated a pit where the dead Arena animals were buried, there were so many that the smell of rotting flesh was still strong.

But about the poem, my only gripe is "fighting for their lives" which seems cliche.  Otherwise, this is a vivid trip to an interesting final stanza.

Depending on when that discovery was, there might be hope of recovering some DNA from the deliquescent mess and discovering, at long last, if the cameleopard was just a giraffe or something else entirely...

Another thought, though: the bones may have just gone for soup. Ah, well...