Second-Rate Colossus [Free Verse]

Bibi ka Maqbara; Aurangabad

What a thing it is to be 
   trapped under a shadow.

To be grand,
  but not the grandest.

To be old,
  but not the oldest.

To argue your distinction,
  but be too similar to avoid 
   comparison to the marvel.

Better to be a shoddy original
 than a second-rate colossus. 

DAILY PHOTO: St. Patrick’s Cathedral, Pune

Taken in March of 2023 in Pune.

DAILY PHOTO: Ohel David Synagogue, Pune

Tomb of David Sassoon, businessman & philanthropist who funded the Synagogue

FUN FACTS: – This is the largest synagogue in Asia (if you don’t count Israel as an Asian nation.) – But Pune has only about 200 Jews. – The synagogue is also called Laal Deval. – It was built in the 1860’s in the English Gothic style.