Desecration - Ian Lilburne

I wandered into
The Pitti Palace
Gallery of Modern Art
Thinking I might find
Hidden there
The odd Picasso or Braque
But this modernity
Ended at Napoleon
And his restoration

There was a bust of him
Larger than life
Obliquely angled
To catch the light
His Corsican gaze
Roman
Classical
Just as he’d like it
‘The Emperor’

But I was more amused by
The emasculated torsos
Scattered through
Those softly-lit corridors
Were they well-hung
Like Casanova?
Or shrunken
Like David?
Were they castrated
In modesty
Or envy?