Frank Requiem

Francis has gone unto his rest,
His epitaph the age's best:
Although the good he did was slight,
The noises that he made were right.

Rome's ostentation he did shun,
And made his life a modest one;
So self-effacing, it is true,
That only Press and public knew.

He stooped to tolerate the gays
And not to judge their faggot ways,
Provided they aspired to love
The Lord Queer-Basher up above.

When conflict flared in divers lands,
He prayed for peace and wrung his hands;
And yet somehow, when he was done,
The wars would still be going on.

Indulgers of the priestly lust,
He treated as a Christian must:
When sin makes free with holy men,
Forgive and let them try again.

The Pontiff's gone to his reward
While praise resounds with one accord,
Because he knew what things to say
While never getting in the way.

Samuel Grimsnipe