Extinction, Laserpicium
        Quam magnus numerus Libyssae harenae
        lasarpiciferis iacet Cyrenis
        —Catullus 7

Consider silphium, extinguished flower,
Kin to the wild carrot, Queen Anne's lace,
Fennel and dill, and rooted now no place
On earth, that once was worth an empress' dower,
A Caesar's ransom. Silphium was power
Stored in Rome's coffers, stamped upon the face
Of silver tetradrachms, a thing to base
The wealth of nations on. Now past its hour,
Stamped out, its numbers harvested to zero,
What properties, what cures were in an ounce
Are lost to us—mere footnote to the pleasure
Out of a poem—"kisses without measure."
The last stalk ever found, Pliny recounts,
Presented as a rarity to Nero.

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Copyright © 2020 A. E. Stallings All rights reserved
from Ecotone
Reprinted by Verse Daily® with permission