The Roman Visitor

The Roman Visitor


Someone just knocked upon my door
And found me lying on the floor
Is it a spirit… or maybe a creature?

I cannot tell, my heart is sore,
Too numb to listen to more lore,
Too weary to see her features.

“Straighten up!”
I hear a whispering voice
“Eavesdrop on the pulse of life!”

Could this be an epiphany,
Unveiling truth or mystery,
Some salutary messenger?

Or just a treacherous fantasy
A harbinger of misery
Caching a vampiric passenger?

“No, I can´t!”
My obstinate voice objects
“There´s no point, that´s futile, for sure!”

Right through the door-frame she´s approching
Still unimpressed by all that moaning
Irritating… irradiating…longing for longing.

And suddenly shifting across the darkeness
She pulls down the curtains, lets in the lightness
Of sun so intense it may cause me blindness.

“Wait, not yet!”
I cry out in panic and angst,
“Who are you? What is it you want?”

“I Am Lady Fortuna, Don´t Bar My Way!
Your wheel of fate I will turn today,
I rolled down the seven Roman hills
Sometimes I enchant, sometimes I kill,
But cornucopia´s mistress you shall obey!
For no earthling has ever resisted my say!”

**************

Alice McDuff ~ 24 January 2007