O Niccolo,
Why’d you have to say it?
We could have all our wars without knowing the reasons.
It’s so disillusioning to be a modern man.

O Niccolo,
I’d like to one question.
How’d it feel to be a transitional figure?
Like Mr. Alighieri
almost, but not quite, a modern man.

And despite historicism,
And the limitations imposed
On my mind
By my time
I still find
My way clear.

Since I barely read Italian
I’ve gathered from translations
of your book
what it took…
the virtue
to be Prince.

O Niccolo,
You were such a great precursor.
You knew all our faults
And we may never recover.
It’s so disillusioning to be a modern man.

O Niccolo,
We’re no longer slaves to fortune,
We’re taking things in hand
Including human nature
It’s so disillusioning to be a modern man.

I have one great ambition,
To grasp by intuition
What you thought
Though I’m caught
in a hermeneutic trap.

And often I am daunted
At nights I’m even haunted
by the fear
that I’m here
while you’re stuck
way back there.

O Niccolo,
Why’d you have to say it?
We could have all our wars without knowing the reasons.
It’s so disillusioning to be a modern man.

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