Death of a City
 

     The city burns. An eerie sight, 
        Twisted faces in scarlet light. 
    The city burns, and men will fall 
        `Neath smoking ruins once proud and tall, 
    Tongues of flame lick at the sky, 
        Innocent babes wail as they die. 
    Mothers weep and beat their breast - 
        The panicked multitude tramples the rest. 
    The city burns. A funeral pyre 
        To man's dreams, consumed by fire. 
    The coward, the proud vanish in flame; 
        Rich and poor die all the same. 
    Monuments, erected to the praise of Man 
        Crumple as if struck by a fiery hand. 
    Mansions and shacks collapse in smoke - 
        The city dies, its backbone broke. 

    The slow, the weak, the aged die first 
        Consumed by the inferno's thirst. 
    Scorched flesh. An agonized scream. 
        Mark the end of many a dream! 
    Lovers clinging to whom they hold dear 
        Are struck down by men crazed with fear. 
    But there is no safety, no hope at all - 
        The city burns. Ten thousand fall. 

    This punishment of man is terrible to behold! 
        Children of Lupa, your fathers have been bold. 
    Now you pay the price, as all men must: 
        From woman to ashes, warrior to dust. 
    Oh mothers of Rome, yours is the blame! 
        Yours the sons who brought Romans to shame. 
    Pray now for the day when sanity returns - 
        Nero is laughing. The city burns...

 

(C) Copyright 1999
GYPSY PETE
All Rights Reserved