untitled, unfinished

"Maximilian was born on 6 July 1832 in the Schönbrunn Palace in Vienna"

--Wikipedia

I.
When I visited the Palace Schoenbrunn,
as I have too many times,
I was not moved,
by the attempt to portray Sissi as a saint--Everywoman,
slimming, and exercising in obedience to the gods of beauty.

And I was baffled,
by the willingness,
of all assembled to believe,
that the childen of privilege,
were really only just like us.

II.
But I did not notice or understand,
that the Future Emperor of Mexico,
came into being,
within the walls of this many-roomed monstrosity.


III.
Nor was I moved by the sad tale,
of an emperor who spent countless hours,
slaving away at his desk,
managing the affairs of his empire:

If Empire came to be out of the slavish devotion of an Emperor,
then Profit might derive from the Abstinence of Capitalists!


IV.
But things began to look different,
on the day that a native of Mexico described,
his visit to the Palace Schoenbrunn,
Where he heard it said that Maximillian of royal blood,
was killed by "Juarez, the Indian".

---And he went on to explain,
smiling as he did,
that the tour guide had not noticed,
that some of the tourists were Mexican.