The Fall

deaf ears, on deaf ears they fall
axe blows to the tree go unnoticed
until ever too late.

the final giddy cut awakens us
so that we may have the pleasure
of being conscious, as we fall.

Rome wasn't felled in a day
there was no sudden explosion
the drip, drip of erosion, end's all histories.

but there's always heralds or signs
ignored visions that glowed in the mind
like a villa on fire.

that toothless grin, destroying marbled beauty
and your pliant face, happy to be held
in those calloused hands.