Carthage

Craig Kirchner

It thrived, alive,

scattering the dream

within a dream,

to surfaces frontiers have never known,

and here it encountered Rome.

It fought for generations,

heroes born to myth,

the taste of suicidal dying,

the sound of empires based on war,

for such was the legacy of Rome.

Burnt and enslaved,

salt sown through its awareness,

shuddering at its own existence,

drowned in the blood

of the sword of Rome.

Unable to recall

the history of the race

that posits one with the Gods,

slavery was tolerated –

this was Roman, Rome had won.

Craig Kirchner is retired and living in Jacksonville. Fl., because that’s where his grandchildren are. He loves the aesthetics of writing, has a book of poetry, Roomful of Navels and has been nominated three times for Pushcart. He was recently published in Decadent Review; Chiron Review, Queen’s Review, The Main Street Rag, Hamilton Stone Review, Yellow Mama, Black Petals and about eight dozen others. He houses 500 books in his office and about 400 poems on a laptop. These words help keep him straight.