Monday, July 7, 2014

VIRCONIUM



How calm the encyclopedia sounds!
“Virconium,” it says, is the Latin form
Of the Common Brittonic  uiroconion
Meaning  settlement of the werewolf.
It tells of the legions stationed there
The bath-houses, the forum, the bishops.
In the sixth century, for reasons unknown,
The old basilica was demolished
And “replaced with new timber-framed buildings
 On rubble platforms.” Though there has been
Some excavation most of the town
Remains buried. There is no word spared
For the werewolf or whether he became

A citizen of Rome and/or a bishop.

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