by Bruce Bennett

OVID’S EXILE TO THE REMOTEST MARGINS OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE REVOKED:
Rome city council overturns banishment of ‘one of the greatest
poets’ more than 2,000 years after Augustus forced him to leave…
— The Guardian

Ovid’s no longer banished. What a joy!
He’s been exonerated. That’s our boy!
However long it takes Paris or Rome
or New York City, poets can come home.

No longer must they rot on foreign turf,
or stare in anguish at a pounding surf.
Once more they’re citizens where they belong,
and can indulge in city life and song.

Once more they’re welcome home, although they’re dead.
So what? This time they will not face the dread
of banishment. They could write what they please—
if it were not too late, by centuries!

True poets everywhere, have heart and hope.
Though trials are many, you must learn to cope.
Wherever you’ve been exiled, just stay true.
At last your country may come home to you.