Rootsie

                    Necropolis                       12/14/02

In days condemned for their barbarity
the king, as stand-in for the Deity
was sacrificed,and all his retinue
was buried alive with him in his tomb
This necropolis spanned acres. The eunuchs,
wives and servants clearly died badly,
Clutching each other, palms over faces.
They died so that the earth could continue,
the river flood, crops grow, camels watered.
Understanding this they went willingly.

Today the millions die so that the king
may continue, that those whom he holds dear
will be well-fed. Crops wither, earth sickens,
we don’t know what to do with all the dead
and they do not go to their fates gladly.
Abomination of desolation,
how long are we to bear it? A city
of the dead. Surely this is blasphemy.
Barbarity unimagined by those
who lay down and let themselves be erased.

They knew a thing that’s been forgot. The price
will be paid
if we remember
or not.