TIAMAT

If you look as if you tip well your guide
May point to a shadow in the corner
Of the Kraken's dream. "That's Tiamat,"
He'll say, "saltwater goddess and dragon.
Last seen in reality 1700 years ago
In Antioch, swallowing St. Margaret.
She's apologized many times for that
But Antiochene saints bear grudges
So Tiamat deems it prudent to live here
Outside the lawful realms. Leave her something --
A bead will do, or a key or a feather --
And chaos, I've heard, will be your friend."

EXILES, PEASANTS AND A DRAGON

Saint Margaret of Antioch, patron of exiles,

Peasants, the dying and the falsely accused,

Is recognized by her attribute: a dragon,

Either on a leash or draped over her shoulder.

When they are not posing for pictures –

Which they have not done now for years –

The dragon often wanders on his own.

Pope Gelasius called Margaret apocryphal

But it didn't stick. In his cups, the dragon

Insists Gelasius is apocryphal.

He has told Anthony's pig that, sometimes,

He thinks of Margaret as his attribute;

Occasionally he eats one of her peasants.

MORE SAINTS

When they meet for softball games
St. Margaret of Antioch fields a team
Of exiles, the dying, and peasants
Against Margaret of Cortona's
Hobos, the insane and third children.
Cortona's retired prostitutes sit on the sidelines
Chatting with the falsely accused of Antioch.
Cortona has lost six times in a row
But this year has an insane southpaw
Who is master of the screwball pitch.