A Good Boy

 by Brett Rutherford

     from Callimachus Epigram VII

He thought to earn merit
from gods, and in the eyes of men,
by tending the grave of one
who was not his ancestor dear.

 Cruel she had been to him,
    his father’s second wife.
And what did he get
     for his trouble?

 The cursèd stone broke
    and fell upon him.
His brains spilled out;
     the flowered garland
still in his clenched hand.

 Step-sons, beware! Even the grave
of she who hated you, hates on.