you began
in the arms of a dog gone mad
long fallen year
king of all gaul
imprisoned for too many revolutions
your eyes are dead already
lips parched from drinking vinegar
we shall put a bit of arsenic
on your cheeks
now what is left of you
is to be drug naked upon a cart
through the drunken mass triumphant
behind the elephants and rhinoceros
a mockery of jupiter in life
crown askew absurdly
the new emperor anointed in blood
hand signals the henchman
rope cutting skin
last blasphemous breath
escapes your strangled throat
era of redefined extremes
i feel your cancerous grasp
weaken and die
tomorrow morning
roman streets
will see
your body swept into a pile
of dung and rose petals