Sonnet ["If I were fire, I'd burn the world away"]

Angiolieri's "S'i' fosse foco"

If I were fire, I'd burn the world away;

If I were wind, I'd blow it down;

If I were water, I'd let it drown;

If I were God, I'd deep-six it today.

If I were Pope, what would make me gay?

To ransack every Christian town.

If I were emperor, what would make my day?

To see heads roll on the ground!

If I were death, I'd run down my father;

If I were life, I'd flee from him.

As for dear mama, she gets the same.

If I were Cecco, and that is my name,

I'd take the pretty young girls to screw

and leave the ugly old hags to you.

Copyright Credit: Paul Violi, "Sonnet" from Likewise. Copyright © 1988 by Paul Violi. Reprinted by permission of Hanging Loose Press.

Source: Likewise (Hanging Loose Press, 1988)