Mad Rasputin

What a live wire that one ..
that Rascal ..
Rasputin
Capricious thief
Brigand of chastity
Loquacious braggart
Harsh on the eyes
Face pitted and stubbled
Grey as gooseflesh and
Veiled in a fearful aroma of
Ancient sweat and
Nocturnal secretions
A holy terror !

Aah but the man could be
charming ..
Trimmed out in stained breeches
A foul woolen shirt
His great belly swollen with
Sudsy beer
Potato wine and lust
He became a howling
Maniacal mendicant
Sweeping and swirling a dervish
Dwarfing other merry-makers
Betraying a frightful countenance
With giggles and a wink towards the
Youngest of ladies ..
His passions and his storied
Manhood enflamed
That randy old Razzi !

Shameless brute
A seductive savant
Lascivious lewd
A libertine prophet
Soulless shrewd
A violent lover with
An icy heart that would not easily
Die

The crafty old devil sneered
As assassins availed themselves of
Ropes and rifles and
Nooses and knives before .. Alas!
The Mad Monk gave up his life
Drowned in a Russian river
Yet from the muck his spirit
Troubles the water
His skeleton mouth agape as a
Madhouse door declaring a
Neediness to return transformed
But with more mayhem and madness
Bringing minions and monied chums
Insolent beyond restraint
Mindful of nothing but
Heedless hedonistic greed

In truth his counsel endures
Resolute and pervasive since the
Dawn of time
Only growing stronger
Acolytes in the millions wave banners and flags
Awaiting his grisly return
Seeming to rival even christ
That perpetual rascal
That revenant
Rasputin