THE PHYSICIST
By Rafael Shakespeare
I walked up to the lecture-room,
To hear from the physicist,
Who said he had a new report,
Waited I did for 30 minutes,
And then he came,
With a book in hand,
He presented his new idea,
With all the strings and stuff,
My mind went into cosmic chaos,
Yet the lecture was informing,
And as he did stepout, stepout I did.
THE HAIKUS OF FOOD
By Rafael Shakespeare
Food goes mouth to tube,
Faldown into the stomach,
Drop to intestine.
Turny small tube it’s,
The small intestine, then the,
Food gosround large one.
Then the poop dropdown,
Flush, flush, down into the pipe,
The sewer it is.
(1) Eagle is a plane,
Flying very high up there.
It is flying free.
(2) Eagle is a car,
Moving fast up in the air,
Faster than its friends.
(3) Eagle is a cloud,
Liquid falling down from it.
It is eagle poop.
THE HOUSE OF MERCADO
Just as a meal is full of food,
with meat being the backbone of the meal,
the rice being soft, tender, and chewy,
and the vegetables being smaller but just as delicious,
My father is our family’s meat, leading our family,
My mother is the rice, soft and tender and caring,
And I am the vegetable, smaller than the others but just as caring.
THE RIME RAFAEL:
A Newe Poetick Stanza
● Meter: Trochaic tetrameter (lines 1, 2, 3); trochaic trimeter (lines 4, 5)
● Lines: 5
● Rhyme: aabcb
WATERFALL: IN RIME RAFAEL
By Rafael Shakespeare
Water falleth in the river,
Green grass seen? It is not winter.
Tall trees I find very pretty,
With leaves falling downwards,
Creatures hath no pity.
WATERFALL TRIMOVEMENT
HAIKU
Water falls,
Into the river.
‘Round green grass.
BALLAD
Water falls into the placid river,
Around the green grass, and,
The tall trees, with creatures all around it,
That’s the river and land.
LIMERICK
Water falls into the blue river,
With green grass and tall trees together.
It flows very gently,
Around the tall oak tree,
With creatures of the land around her.
The Roman Legacy
The Western Roman Empire fell in 476 A.D., while the Eastern Roman Empire, or the Byzantine Empire, fell in 1453 A.D. However, the legacy of the Roman Empire continues in the modern day in multiple aspects of society.
The first major aspect is language. Latin continued to be spoken after the fall of the Roman Empire, eventually evolving into the Romance languages: Italian, French, Spanish, Portuguese, and Romanian. These languages are widely spoken today. Additionally, Latin-based words are seen in English, such as the word “lunar” (of the moon), from the Latin luna (moon), and Latin expressions are often seen in English; et cetera means “and the rest.”
Roman institutions inspire many institutions today. The Roman Republic included a Senate, a council of people who ran the country. Today, the Senate is the upper house of the U.S. Congress. Additionally, until the German Empire adopted an imperial code in 1900, Roman law was used as a subsidiary law.
Rome is famous for its roads and statues. Many of those still exist today. While part of the Colosseum was removed over time, the Colosseum has mostly been preserved. Many Roman roads continue to be used to this day across Europe. The Aqua Virgo, constructed in 19 B.C., continues to supply water to multiple fountains.
With influence on language, institutions, and architecture, the Roman Empire undeniably has a strong impact on modern society. From English words and American institutions to European roads, Rome’s legacy lives on.
Works Cited
UNC-Chapel Hill Writing Center. “Latin Terms and Abbreviations – the Writing Center • University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.” The Writing Center • University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, 14 May 2024, writingcenter.unc.edu/tips-and-tools/latin-terms-and-abbreviations/#:~:text=The%20abbreviation%20etc.,can%20be%20substituted%20for%20etc.
Carozza, Paolo, Rheinstein, Max, Jolowicz, Herbert Felix, Glendon, Mary Ann, Kiralfy, Albert Roland, Stein, Peter G., Powell, Raphael, Hazard, John N., Millner, Maurice Alfred. "Roman law". Encyclopedia Britannica, 26 Mar. 2025, https://www.britannica.com/topic/Roman-law. Accessed 14 July 2025.
The Storm Front
A storm begins in a serene ocean,
It goes up and trembles with great terror.
It moves to land, with thunder in motion,
Destroying all in town, with no barrier.
No defense plan can withstand this damage,
Big cities are left with none but debris.
Even a great, big, and healing bandage,
Can’t stop people from crying out, “HURRY!”
Wind blows, and the buildings face destruction,
The mayor declares an emergency.
This is much worse than a great eruption,
It will be done, but recover? We’ll see.
And so, as the storm has now abated,
Everyone in town has been pervaded.
MAGELLAN’S GROCERIE LYSTE: FOODE ITEMS
July 11, 2025
Dearest King Charles II of Spain,
Thank you for the sponsorship for my voyage to the Moluccas. All voyages need food, so my voyage needeth food. Ergo, I would like to request funding to purchase these five items from Ye Olde Robinne Sonne’s Grocerie.
● Libby’s Vienna Sausage - An easy-to-open canned good. I will order 1,000 cans.
● Jack Link’s Beef Jerky - A preservable meat dish. I would like 10,000 batches.
● Any non-perishable oat bar - A healthy addition to our mostly processed grocery list. I will order 50,000 bars.
● Jolly’s Canned Beans - Healthy and easy to prepare. I will order 5,000 cans.
● Century’s Canned Tuna - A fish item, perfect for sailing. I will order 10,000 cans.
We will need these items by the first of August this year.
Regards,
Fernando de Magallanes
