We fell like the Roman Empire
Slowly and suddenly.
The roads we trodden black,
Trampled on and destroyed the grass.
Every corner every turn
All lead back to the
Inevitable disaster
of this imperialist nation.

We crumbled like the coliseum.
Rotting old stone
Breaking off and plummeting to the earth
Where it is forgotten
Buried under years and years of conflict.

He was like Romulus and ran.
Naked feet can only carry the weight of his regret for so long.
The pampered feet of the prince were sullied
and cut up from the path of sins
that fell like his kingdom
Step, by step, by step.

They drove him out
With fire and pitchforks
And words cold as ice.
He didn’t fight back.
He displayed cowardice and submission to the enemy.
They refuted his resistance and took him away,
Away from me.
Little did I know he didn’t want to
Come back…

His country doubted him,
I doubted him and he me.
Our relationship so tangled in the bones of this city
Made it hard to pull away.
But this city is barren,
It has been burned to the ground.
And I still hold the ruins of what used to stand proud in my fingertips.
The ashes of what was
The remains of our kingdom
The city of Rome.