From Publius
To Livia

I'm writing to tell you
I will no longer work your fields

For too long my sweat bled to make you look good
Mine harvest fed the entire eternal city
For months!

Yet you'd eyes only for the leadened ***** of
Gaius
And
Marcus
It's a wonder you haven't gone blind yet

Or mayhaps you have?

It would explain your complete and utter ignorance
Of the goings on right outside your window!

Those furrows
I plowed
That terrace
I built
Those grapes
I grew

I nurtured this land long before you
And Marcus

Originally,
It was just myself and Gaius
Charged with taming wild Ceres
Transforming forest to field
Then field to farm
A cornucopia of plenty

Then you came along
Your drooling dog in tow
Salivating the discord of Discord
While gorging yourself on Gaius' selfish lies
Taking credit for mine own efforts
And treating me as a mere shadow on the wall

Invisible to all

Well,
I prayed to the Capitoline Triad
I offered a white bull to Jupiter the king
And asked him to command radiant Sol
To shine bright on your shade
And bless me with brighter horizons

I begged jealous Juno
To send windy ****** to blow you off course
Along with your precious pets
Hopefully you'll crash on Sicilian shores
With only furious Polyphemus for company
For this I burned frankincense and myrrh

To ****** Minerva
A libation of mine own wine
So she might reveal your true arachnid self
A punishment for your self aggrandizing arrogance
Thinking yourself wiser in the art of cultivation
Than the goddess of wisdom herself

Dear Livia,
You should be worried

Already my horizons brighten
As yours begins to dim in mine absence
And slowly, your guise of perfection is slipping
Revealing six sinewy legs, dagger tipped
And fangs dyed red with innocent blood

The Gods have heard my prayers
And your web begins to unravel

Praise Olympus

Signed,
PERTINAX

The Gods once sang hymns of Garland twined
Dancing nymphs steadily seducing Zeus’s mind
They sang about love, passion, and a woman scorned
For Hera, wife of Zeus, Hephaestus, his brother warned
“Aphrodite may be sweet, *****, and supple
But the two of you together will bring only trouble”
Brooding Zeus sulked, like the heroes of old
Alexander may be great but he will be BOLD

Ignoring the warning, to the glade he went
Sending a message with Mercury, his love he sent
Luna hung low over the trees that night
Fireflies flashing accenting the light
There she strode, Aphrodite the beautiful
Come here to meet Zeus, lord of the thunderbolt
“My king, with Mercury your words I read
Sweet nothings echo in my heart that bleeds
In wanting for you, I bellow the forge of my heart
My longing for you had me longing to depart”

Zeus rushed to his muse, his body filled with lust
Never stopping to consider he was betraying Hera’s trust
For the queen had played mighty Zeus, an illusion she wore
Aphrodite in image but in Hera her SCORN
Together they lay in lust passions raged
To feel his love again being all that she craved
Her moans turned to laughter, her plot complete
The nymphs turned to vines snaring his feet
“Hera, my love, do not be angered
My feelings for you were never endangered
I knew it was you from the very beginning
I was just simply curious to see the ending”

Hera wasn’t interested in any more of his lies
Like Uranus before him she would cut off his pride
Never again would he sire another *******
She would remain queen on Olympus from here on after
In celebration she cast the ******* down the mountain
Into a babbling spring where nymphs danced ’round a fountain
When suddenly an infant sprang from holy water deep
A boy was born immaculately complete
Raised by the dryad’s a man he grew
Through labors of love to prove his due

Ignorant of the boy, Hera jealously ruled Olympus
With Zeus crippled her power now limitless
Until a prophecy was issued by Apollo’s oracle
“A child born, he who is destined to wear the purple”
Worried, Hera sent Mercury down to Gaia’s shores
His mission to find the boy before he could wage his war
Too late he was, for once, he was too slow
The boy (now a man) was already in Olympus with his father in tow
“Hera, I’m here to claim my throne, father as my witness
From him I was born, a product of your sickness
Your husband you tricked, maimed, and usurped
That throne is mine and Olympus will never be yours
Then he called forth his first thunderbolt
Casting Hera into the void and ending her revolt

Did I really have any other choice?
The minute
the minute
the moment you came and graced these lands with your presence,
                                                                                I was already awestruck.
While other’s just bowed to the things you have done for us,
                                                                                  I bowed to your beauty
                                                                                                    your essence.
                  Yet mortal feelings should have never reached you.
You belonged to the stars
                                                                                    I belonged down here.

                                            Yet here you were
                                                                                               with us mortals,
Here you were in robes that hardly touched the mortal plain
                                        And I’d still honor the grounds you walked on.
Here you were
dancing with the gods you made
singing with the mortals of the world you gave.
You kept coming, and going.
And each time you came back,
                                   I must have seemed older over the years.
                                                And yet
                                                                                 My heart still yearned…
                                               And yet…
                                                                    My heart still yearned.
Your rubellite eyes,
Asked to stay
But no god would listen
For the curse that could incur.
And when your rubellite eyes met my sapphiric ones,
                                                                   Your name came across my lips,
                                                    the name I told myself I’d never call you.
                                                           A name I knew that would link you.
                                   Then you looked at me,
                                           And asked me
Could you stay?
                                                                Who was I to give you an answer,
                                                         Who was I to command your wishes?
And
Apparently
You gave me the answer.
                                                                                                      I met you as
                                                           A boy who knew nothing
                                                                                              And I see you as
                                                   A man who wanted everything.
                                         And as I look at you
                  Your name came out above a whisper
And You stayed
And You stayed.
                                        And I will never regret the decisions I’ve made.

The statues destroyed,

temples without a roof, gods --


that are still alive.

she borrows the light from the sun
just before it can set,
slipping to the other side of the horizon,
reflecting it in her irises,
covering them in liquid gold.
she's the entity that the pagans prayed to,
the object of countless legends.
she slips into her skin like a hand-sewn dress,
and everyone who ever loved her
is now consumed by the earth.
she picks flowers that took root in their skulls,
wears a crown of white ribs
and grows around their remains like moss.
she's the end of all things,
the silent watcher of time,
meeting the travelers on every single one
of the countless roads.
she borrows the light from the sun
just before it can set,
breaking through the other side of the horizon,
reflecting it in her irises,
standing by as the world around her burns.

A celestial event, a message, a warning,
A solar eclipse, God showing us to believe,
Care, love, each other every day. The moon,
Between the sun and earth, actually happens,
Every twenty nine days, to see darkness, during,
The day light hours, the moon has to be at a perfect,
Angle, to block the suns rays. God the almighty power,
Reminding us he could darken our life, any time, any day.
The power involved, hundreds of thousands people,
From around the world, not thinking of the cost,
For travel, lodging, waiting in traffic for  hours, that day,
For a three minute, view, the unseen power, pulling them,
To the area on that April day.  At the totality, a special feeling,
In the air, and your body, blessed, peace, no word of disturbances,
At any viewing sites, a perfect day, to reflect, and be reminded,
Why we are here, in this life today.


                                          The original: Tom Maxwell © 4/11/2024 A D

Oh fair mortals, heed my call
For I am the God of the hunt, mighty and tall
In forests deep and meadows green
My presence is felt, my power unseen

With bow in hand and arrows true
I roam the land, my prey in view
The beasts of earth, both great and small
Are subject to my aim, one and all

Oh how I revel in the thrill
Of the chase, with every skill
My keen eyes scan the terrain
For my next target, I shall not refrain

From the mighty stag with antlers wide
To the timid hare, I do not hide
For I am the master of this game
And all creatures within, know my name

But do not think me cruel or cold
For I am also the protector bold
Of balance in nature, I ensure
That life and death remain pure

So heed my call, oh mortal kind
For in me, your strength you'll find
For I am the God of the hunt
And in my realm, all creatures are one.

So when you wander in the wild
Remember me, the God of the hunt, mild
For in every creature, my spirit lives
And in their survival, my power thrives.

I tried to draw the attention
of the disinterested God
who builds the weather.

“Send us snow - just a few feet -
make our Christmas fantasy complete”
I pleaded, but she never interceded.

Angels, that will-less posse of hers
only seem to watch earth’s slaughter
as the wind carries a warm disregard.