If you’re ever floating down the Congo
be sure to visit the small village of Gbadolite,
home to the stately pleasure-dome of Mobutu
the former Ozymandias of Zaire.
For twenty dollars the squatters in the palace,
his former soldiers and their families,
will let you have a look around the place.
It’s everything you imagine a crazed dictator
would find befitting his inflexible will:
dried fountains and greenish jacuzzis,
conveyor belts in the kitchen that served
pâté and chilled salmon on Limoges china,
a spacious sunroof of red steel girders,
a statue of his first wife, Marie-Antoinette.
R. Charboneau
Photo Credit: Sean Smith for the Guardian
Robert Charboneau. 
You betcha, I’ll be sure to visit all pleasure-domes that come my way! How cool that his first wife was called Marie-Antoinette. It’s a chilling coincidence. Unless that was her nickname? (not sure which would be more disturbing)
Thank you for the tantalizing introduction, Monsieur. I’ll find my way from here.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thanks Gabriela! That was her real name, surprisingly. Sometimes fate is too ironic.
LikeLike