Impregnation

O Horace, your aphorism rings

true. As a cask is judged by its first

tang, so my dog relishes the kibble

from the freshly opened bag. Or think

of the crisp delectability of the new

bag of chips in adult hands.

And if Virgilian myth messed

with the minds of Roman youth,

did Augustine believe his words

to have the power to challenge

a 400-year-old misunderstanding?

Clarify ancient misconceptions?

To read the pages of electronic

text with the pristine innocence

of the chaste is to embrace

the allure of discovery, the

rapture of mental mutability.

Or at least to tease the mind.