skin bronzed by a much younger sun;
tattooed, pompeiian blue, pompeiian red.
ochre paint, and the sere echoes of ancient laughter.
spirals etched into rockfaces, the breath of hyacinths/pollen/poison/dust.
forgotten gods still dance in the wastes between.
splintered statues, frozen dream of their future, buried now in the long ago.
a winding road in the shadow of the temple of aphrodite, bears the eternal imprint of war.
reeking of blood and haunted by hecate,
further down at the crossroads.
and soldiers all along that road as always, marching beneath the scarlet banner of ares;
no longer toting spears, but machine guns and tear gas,
yet baring the same bloodthirsty, lecherous grins:
past and present and future all joining; to bleed together.