I contributed a short poem in hendecasyllables of my own:
Flagitiosum in Praedicatorem
Paedicator, habere praedicator.
Praedicas pueris piis, iis dum
Paedicas animos, et os, et anos.
Percidis pueros eisque κέρδος
Praedicis dare te, sacer sacerdos. 5
Paedicator, habere praedicator?
Paedicator habere, praedicator!
‘Against an evil preacher’
Pedophile, you’re regarded as a preacher.
You preach to innocent boys, and at the same time
You’re buggering their minds and mouths and backsides.
You’re raping boys, and yet tell all you’re leading
them, you sinister minister, to God’s realm. 5
Pedophile, you’re regarded as a preacher?
No! Be known as a pedophile, preacher!
Notes: In lines 1 and 6, habere is 2nd person singular passive indicative (= haberis, ‘be considered’). In line 7, it’s the passive imperative (‘be considered!’). In line 4, the Greek word κέρδος (kerdos) means ‘gain’. In Christian contexts it implies eternal life (cf. Philippians 1:21 ‘To live is Christ, and to die is gain (κέρδος).’).
For the background of the poem, see my introduction in the new issue (p. 110)
Michael Fontaine 