How to Tell History from Fiction

Even empires come out of retirement—
Neo-This and Second-That flourish
For a little while in imitation

Of their namesakes. Aftershocks. All they are.
As far back as ancient Sumeria,
Ancient Sumeria made a come-back.

But no one builds epics quite like athletes
Reluctant to let go of glory years.
No one builds sequels like hegemonies,

The first iteration more extensive
Than each shrinking descendant. Yes, the first
Season is generally the finest,

But they don’t return geometrically
Reduced like radioactive half lives.
That’s how it goes with the civilized world—

If a human or something human works
Really well, someone else will run it back
Or try to, New Kingdom, Third Dynasty,

Last campaign to win the presidency.
If trilogies were written in that way,
They’d have a better claim to mimesis.

The closest approximation comes when
Some creator sets off on a prequel
Or a tangential world-building project.

But even a story about failure succeeds
Best as a tale in which story succeeds,
One narrative arch, not hoodoos that shrink.