Battle-Stained
Old Coliseum, fright of Rome
I see your toothless grin
and know you too have suffered much
you house of mortal sin
You made your life, your fortune too
by grinding heels on those
who fought and won, or tried, and died
to make your bloody shows
You still stand tall against the sky
but your fabric’s getting thin
and I can see your wrinkled face
and know you did not win
For while you keep on crumbling on
real life stirs, and swirls about
your feet, now seen as made of clay
in truth, thumbs down, you’re out ....
Old Coliseum, fright of Rome
I see your toothless grin
and know you too have suffered much
you house of mortal sin
You made your life, your fortune too
by grinding heels on those
who fought and won, or tried, and died
to make your bloody shows
You still stand tall against the sky
but your fabric’s getting thin
and I can see your wrinkled face
and know you did not win
For while you keep on crumbling on
real life stirs, and swirls about
your feet, now seen as made of clay
in truth, thumbs down, you’re out ....
Alan McAlpine Douglas, father
to 5 and grandfather to 3, has been writing poetry since 1993. His
idiosyncratic voice has produced thousands of poems in this time, and he finds
it quite hard to stay serious, even when he means to. He also enjoys writing
spoofs, using well-known poems or songs like Clementine or In the Ghetto as his
models.
This was a fun poem and you had a good time I think describing
ReplyDeletethe toothless grin of the coliseum, its fabric getting thin, its wrinkles showing, and I had a good time reading it.