Old Swineherd

In a world where slavery
Was a familiar given,
It must have mattered

To slaves and owners alike,
Who was an exemplary
Slave, exemplary master.

And, if it mattered, it meant,
As meaning is the whale road
To the shadow world,

The river around all things,
Hades, Ultima Thule.
But what it meant, no one knew.

I knew you. I knew
You would be flattered.