Down Among the Ruins
Down among the ruins spreads a vision of demise—
Vines a creeping covering and darkness fills the skies,
Statues sit in lonely watch, the stone is chipped and worn,
Sore bereaved to see this scene, my very heart is torn!
Condemnation filters through from heaven where we were,
Spreading through the river dank and up the yonder spur,
Fish that die and float ashore, with poison in their gills,
Overwhelming putridness that rankly overspills.
See the boat in broken form, in strandedness for years?
Punctured by the flaring storm, it slowly disappears,
Lillies yellow, brown and dark, are spreading weary shapes,
Covering the river bank with sickly sullied capes.
Even spy the temple which to Artemis was built,
Once a hall of sprightly life, with singers in a lilt;
There I played when once a girl, irreverent and gay,
Now I see an everlasting picture of decay.
Clouds in slate and argentine,
So dimly loom above,
Slaked withal by heady wine, I’ve lost the will to love,
Let this doom our beauty breach and let the cold wind blow,
I am lost forever in this hellish undertow…
ADL
adamdaniel 