English poem
To One Detested
by Ambrose Bierce (1842–1914)
Sir, you're a veteran, revealed In history and fable As warrior since you took the field, Defeating Abel.
As Commissary later (or If not, in every cottage The tale is) you contracted for A mess of pottage.
In civil life you were, we read (And our respect increases) A man of peace--a man, indeed, Of thirty pieces.
To paying taxes when you turned Your mind, or what you call so, A wide celebrity you earned-- Saphira also.
In every age, by various names, You've won renown in story, But on your present record flames A greater glory.
Cain, Esau, and Iscariot, too, And Ananias, likewise, Each had peculiar powers, but who Could lie as Mike lies?