
“Gladiator” by Tania Vasylenko
haul up the portcullis
enter the stadium
lash your weapons
to your glory burn
torches of flesh
where the lion
surrounds violent
lust with its jaws
giving Caesar his
ease swing your
hammer blade
blunt chopping
granular colonies
slave pieces slip
through the glass
as bones reckon the
timing of empire
From my books Bullets from Bones and Legacies (vol. 1)