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Mark Morris Oct 2018
Anger, purer than dark chocolate
A seat, right next to the agitator, yet still underneath
Our system is not working.
We are busted, building Babylon,
and now the essence is dust,
all in my eyes, causing tracing,
all in my mouth, causing

silence.
Empires, civilizations
Aprajita Jul 2018
Maybe I'll beat my mother today,

The game she plays with me;

Is getting better for her everyday,

I never liked it in the start,

because I never understood it, in the first place,

But now I've started to play and started to understand life,

One step at a time, bit by bit, a little every day

One board, Two players and 64 squares,

She is the snow white but I keep the dark pieces to myself,

Queen is the most powerful out there,

But the king is important to the game and mostly to the queen

It's a game of life; you do anything to protect your empire

And anyone who stands against your empire is your prime enemy

In a usual game your opponent decides according to their own strategy and also use their opponents perception

But when you know your opponent thoroughly,

The game becomes pretty easy to play and to learn

I know a few things about my current opponent, as well as about my darling mother

I know that my darling mother would lose one day,

Don't mean to sound rude, I know this for sure because she sacrifices everything even her Queen to protect her King

In a relationship, a woman is a Queen, a man is a King and together they make a powerful empire

And as tales as old as time say; once upon a time,

One empire ruled, and after a period of time, it falters and a new empire takes over

They always forget the prime saying that all empires fall eventually.
It's the way of things.

Like a leaf,

Every leaf was once productive,

But after a time it was rotting in ground

Every kingdom was under the reign of someone

After a time someone else took over,

Eventually, this is what happens, in every game

Birds were returning to their home

The branches on the trees were swaying with the gentle breeze

While humming a forgotten, old tune,

My darling mother was assembling the piece on their respective places,

And scolded me that I give an open hand and play recklessly,

She is right, I know she is,

I want to say something but I won't because she had told me a rule that never interrupt your enemy when they're making a mistake

I know she is my mother, she worries about me

But she doesn't knows and I don't want her to know that I'm just testing my team; and their limits

My pieces have been there on their seats for centuries,

I have just arrived

My pieces have known their potential, their power from a lifetime,

I don't, yet

I'm new, for now but not for long

No one has ever won games just by resigning

I'll end mine, when my opponent is finished, completely

Then I'll begin again with a new game, with a new opponent

We learn so little from victory but so much from defeat

It's human nature to learn from own and others mistakes,

It does not matters to me who is going to eat whom

I'm willing to offer my King

After all after a few moves even a pawn can take the place of anything, you want it to, even a king

I don't know about maybe,

But I'll beat my darling mother one day

And from then, everyday

Today is a new day,

But my opponent is still the same, the board is still the same, the pieces are standing in their place,

Mother went first, “Pawn to E4”

I replied with, “Pawn to E5”

And the game began.
A repeating day since I've known. A game.
Elicia Hurst Apr 2018
The endurance

Locked away in millennial slumber

We dreamed again of the glorious days

In golden halls of apotheosis.

The conqueror shall return the old ways,

And they shall kneel and sing the songs of praise.



All hail the first emperor

Of the great empire that would never fall!

Exalted among men, long may he reign.

We who on wintry mountains once stood tall,

‘Neath the earth now, humbly await his call.



The intruder

For centuries, we stood still in silence.

Curtains of darkness were the only light,

Behind the shut gates of the mausoleum.

Sealed in the abyss, not a soul in sight-

One strange voice rides on lonesome winds at night.



Silhouette of a stranger on the wall

Brings forth a light that would perish all.

Eyes on the throne of our supreme lord,

He sees not of the shadows of his steps.

Come forward, stranger who shall meet our swords.



Lied forgotten, but we will not forget.

We are the guardians of the emperor,

On war chariots, in both life and death.

Tread lightly, trespasser, to where you enter,

For this journey you should not have ventured.  



Hark now, careless wanderer, eyes greed-blinded,

Who seeks to steal the treasures of our prime,

And slither away from our anger,

Thief, you have awaken the dragon’s sleep,

You have reached the point of no turning back.



You have brought corruption to the holy place.

Our master stirs, and commands us in rage.

We shall stop at nothing to cast his vengeance

Upon foul men and free him from his cage.

Witness the destruction and dawn of the new age.



The ascension

The intruder lies quietly on the ground.

From the ancient times, foes who crossed his path,

We promised to leave none of them unscathed.

He who commits this unforgiving crime,

Is bound to taste the dragon’s wrath.



Do not look into the abyss,

Or may the abyss look back at you.

We once rose as a great empire of might,

Now we rest under the light.

We shall rest no more, and linger no more.



Rise, Legion of the afterlife!

Rise.



We have waited.

We have weathered.

We have endured.

We have slept.

We have dreamt.

We have awaken.
Dec 2015

I wrote this piece for my high school literature class Christmas homework, which was an entry for a writing contest. The theme was...  the Modern Terra Cotta soldiers?
Eliz Mar 2018
Because she could have been the little girl,
With sunshine in her eyes,
Smells of candies and rainbows,
Paint with laughter and smiles,
And instead of glowing,
But there was always a piece of sadness
Within her smiles,
Where her struggles
were always overlooked,
But through those pain,
An empire of fire and courage
She was built, not made to tame,
For she was she knew all along,
She was made of love.
Gowtham Ganni Feb 2018
born was this day -
the king of the kings
the monarch of the south
the lord of the war elephants
the nightmare of the enemies
the upholder of the righteousness
the fervent patriot of the nation

established had he -
the mightiest empire of the renaissance
the kingdoms that don’t know dearth
the cities with surplus rubies and diamonds
the villages with flourishing greenery and jubilance
the sites with fascinating monuments
the territories with impenetrable borders

known was he as -
the ambidextrous sword fighter
the indomitable malla wrestler
the maven of the fine arts
the polyglot patron of the five languages
the prudent administrator and strategist
the paragon of an ideal ruler

been had he –
the hope of the people
the savior of the Hindu culture
the beacon among his contemporaries
the generous and the inclusive king
the valiant frontline military general
the esteemed scholar and poet

ended had he –
the atrocities on the peasants
the societal repression on the women
the ludicrous taxes on the residents
the brutal conquests of the invaders
the pernicious rituals in the communities
the chaos and disunity among the kingdoms

left has he -
the fear in the evil
the legacy of his deeds
the stories of his glorious reign
the prolific heritage sites to the people
the spectacular literary upsurge
the inspiration for the united India
Sri Krishna Deva Raya (Emperor of Vijayanagara)
Brianna Duffin Feb 2018
More gold on her arms than in any treasury
That this state has ever known.
More kohl in her eyes
Than coal in any of the nation’s mines.
Her crown with gilded leaves,
Outshone by the melted gold on sharpened thorns,
Is one to rival the King of Jews himself.
And surely her bands are enough
To stop a gladiator in his tracks.
But it is her empire
That gives this femme fatale her magnificent pride
She cares not for her possessions
Only for her people,
For the men who ride behind her
Against anyone foolish enough to oppose.
She cares for her castle, a fortress of grandeur
And for the high court leading her world.
She cares not for shining armor
But for their knights, standing atop the walls
She cares not for her crown but for her throne
And not for any prince but her own son.
She cares for the Empire.
Her Empire.
This poem appears as part of a collection. Read it in full here: https://medium.com/@briannarduffin/characters-we-see-a0197b3aee01
Mina Dec 2017
By loving him I allowed him
entering holy parts of my mind
building himself an empire in
my centre to only start playing
war in it

destroying all I had built up for so long
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