Potemkin Masks

Potemkin Masks

Cath’rine the Great had waved her thanks

For miles of conquered Russian land

That stretched along the river banks

Her conquest proved indeed quite grand

Not knowing that her noble man

Her Prince Potemkin played both hands

And building cardboard walls began

He propped up towns—faked borderlands

Made only to impress his queen

And slow her reach throughout the land

A ruse so shrewd and byzantine

A mask—a sham—so clever planned

No makeup can conceal with art

The truest essence of the heart

~by Patricia Tiffany Morris

The word potemkin denotes a mask or facade, named for the diplomat, Grigory Potemkin. The legend states he constructed false building fronts along rivers to make Catherine the Great believe her conquests were larger than they were, while he worked behind the scenes toward securing an Anglo-Prussian alliance.

First Published in Lyrical Iowa in 2021.

The Iowa Poetry Association - IPA 

“The Lyrical Iowa Annual Poetry Competition. Lyrical Iowa is an annual anthology of 300 or more poems chosen from those submitted to the competitions listed below. Contests are open to all persons with an Iowa address; you do not need to be a member of the Association. No entry fee. The Lyrical Iowa 2022 Competition is open Jan. 1 - Feb.28, 2022.” ~ Printed from the Lyrical Iowa and IPA’s Website with a link below.