I quit the days that chill us
As we March toward Sextilis
Romulus intercalated the year
Adding dual moons, factitious
***
Sex became Octigenti
And Sept, Novem a'plenty
The eighth Moon, august and regal
By the Julian modum viventi
***
Still, the Equinox vernal
Drifted steadily toward eternal
Delaying the Resurrection
For each revolution, diurnal
***
Aloysius Lilius
A mathematician imperious
For forty years removed the Leap
Till Easter fell, again, religious
***
Gregory XIII, too
In 1582
Declared the way we count our months
In the Janus to Decem queue
***
No one knows what happened that year
From October fifth to fifteenth, in arrears
Persons born — then — were simply unborn
In a ten-day Limbo's contrivance engineered
***
I spurn and leap, not, the spurious day
Every four years that comes our way
In lieu I take annual six-hour respite
Each Sextilis, led calendrically astray
***
Inspired by https://www.calendar.com/history-of-the-calendar/#:~:text=The%20year%20had%20already%20been,June%2C%20September%2C%20and%20November
The Gregorian calendar was adopted on Friday, October 15, 1582, during the papacy of Gregory XIII. The previous day, according to the Julian calendar, was Thursday, October fourth.
About the Creator
Gerard DiLeo
Retired, not tired. In Life Phase II: Living and writing from a decommissioned church in Hull, MA. (Phase I was New Orleans and everything that entails. Hippocampus, behave!
https://www.amazon.com/Gerard-DiLeo/e/B00JE6LL2W/
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Comments (2)
Oooo, this was so fascinating! I loved it!
So those days just disappeared? Nice history lesson in verse.