This Persian king was losing to the Greeks; His heels they had been nipping at for weeks. To run for home he had to cross a strait Called Hellespont (the Dardanelle of late). Next thing he knew, a thunderstorm destroyed His pontoon bridge. Was Xerxes One annoyed! He told his loyal infantry and slaves To give three hundred lashes to those waves! How’s that for hubris? And, as stories tell, The punishment resounded pretty well; The weather did get better, Xerxes One Did make it home—but then his upstart son Assassinated him. How’s that for nerve? These pompous men. They get what they deserve. —Henry Rathvon