by Nick Gisburne
By the smouldering garrison wall
What remains of our soldiers still crawl
Something skinned them alive
And although they survive
They must scream with no faces at all
As the whimpering millions fled
To the beaches their children were led
Slain for sport in the sand
At the tyrant’s command
While he bathed in their blood as they bled
With the hideous hatching complete
There was hunger for succulent meat
Human bodies, alive
Kept as food for the hive
Sick and screaming, but tender and sweet
Taking vows on the shore of the lake
Solemn promises neither must break
Each was given the gift
Of an ending made swift
With the venomous bite of a snake
See my enemies kneel at my feet
How they grovel, accepting defeat
All their deaths will be slow
As they suffer I’ll know
That my vengeance at last is complete
I’ve decided to kill you tonight
Are you planning to put up a fight?
While you lie in your bed
I will sever your head
And the chances I’ll spare you are slight
In the bio-mesh nutrient tank
I injected some cells for a prank
Tell me how could I know
Such a monster would grow?
So for doomsday it’s me you should thank
My emotions are chained in a cage
They are fighting to fit on this page
I was cheering for hope
But it’s dead, on a rope
And the winner, as always, is rage
“Oh, Rapunzel”, the sorceress said
“Let your hair down, I’ve brought you some bread”
But the girl, now insane
Flung not only her mane
For it fell to the rocks with her head
I have often uneasily wondered
If the ghosts of the lands I have plundered
Could return to the past
Would they kill me at last?
Maybe not – I have lived to a hundred
