by Bruce Bennett

“Last fall, with the Medici Chapel in Florence operating on reduced hours because of Covid-19,
scientists and restorers completed a secret experiment: They unleashed grime-eating bacteria
on the artist’s masterpiece marbles.”
—The New York Times

While Covid raged throughout the land,
Some brave restorers took a stand
And loosed good microbes with good taste
To solve the problem that they faced:

How to remove unsightly stains
And blemishes from what remains
The Greatest of Great Art we know,
Sculptures by Michelangelo.

Imagine! Microscopic creatures
That clean and polish limbs and features.
That we can get our glimpse of Heaven
Through bugs with names like SH7!

A miracle! So let’s rejoice.
Let’s raise a glass, and raise our voice
For any virus or bacillus
Who’s there to serve, and not just kill us!