1467, The Long Fuse

It started with a spark in a bamboo cane,

Ninth century, East, a festive little flame—

Not a whisper of the harvest yet to come,

Just firecrackers dancing to a hollow drum.

But man is a creature of a thirsty kind,

He took the saltpeter and left peace behind.

By the thirteenth century, the metal spoke,

A coughing iron throat, a shroud of sulfur smoke,

It drifted West, across the silk and sand,

To find a home in every soldier’s hand.

Then came the summer of the Italian sun,

The fields of Molinella, the day of the gun—

July, fourteen-sixty-seven, the record books say,

Where the iron fist of history began its play.

The psychopaths grinned, they loved the sound,

Of leaden rain hitting the muddy ground,

They called it "progress," they called it "might,"

While the rational men stared into the coming night.

They saw the fuse burning, short and deep,

While the rest of the world was lulled to sleep.

Now the bombs have grown, they’ve learned to fly,

To scream like angels through a hollow sky.

Ten thousand suns in the silos wait,

Locked in the grip of a global state.

Russia, the States, the East, the West—

We’ve built a cage for the planet’s chest.

The Bulletin ticks on the office wall,

A nervous rhythm before the fall.

We’ve mastered the chemistry of our own demise,

With the final, blinding light behind our eyes.

Author’s Note:
This poem is a reflection on the historical evolution of weaponry and humanity's responsibility toward its own future.

to be continued

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ELENCHUS... A Trial of History"    (14)

PUBLICATION IDENTITY & CREDITS

Original Text & Inspiration:

Panayotis V. Mataragas (Rotterdam)

The foundational vision, drafted at the crossroads of European history.

Language Editing & Adaptation:

Kellene G. Safis (Chicago)

Refining the rhythm and pulse through a definitive American lens.

Digital Editing & Formatting:

Cathy Rapakoulia Mataraga (Piraeus)

The architectural assembly and final form at the Great Port.

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*The Battle of Riccardina or Battle of Molinella, fought on July 25, 1467, in Molinella, was one of the most important battles of the 15th century in Italy.
On the one side were 14,000 infantry and cavalry led by Bartolomeo Colleoni in theory fighting for Venice (but Colleoni had his personal agenda), in coalition with Borso d'Este, Marquis of Ferrara (represented by his half-brother Ercole I d'Este) and the Lords of Pesaro, Forlì and some renegade families of Florence.
On the other side was an army of 13,000 soldiers in the service of Florence, allied with Galeazzo Maria Sforza (ruler of the Duchy of Milan), King Ferdinand II of Aragon and Giovanni II Bentivoglio (ruler of Bologna). The army was led by a Federico da Montefeltro.
The battle
The battle was fought along the Idice river, between the villages of Riccardina (near Budrio) and Molinella. Historians disagree on who won the battle. The only certainty is that Bartolomeo Colleoni had to abandon his plans to conquer Milan. There were between 600 and 700 casualties. Notable was the large number of horses killed (almost 1,000).
The battle is historically important because, for the first time in Italy, artillery and firearms were intensively used.
A large fresco in the Castle of Malpaga, probably by Girolamo Romani, depicts the battle.
In 1468 peace was concluded under the initiative of Pope Paul II.

 ELEGHOS... at history