Hauptstadt

I walked tonight
Beneath the stars and ancient ruins
Among elated crowds
Laughing old men
Staring young women
Travelers and tourists
And locals and people like me
In-between-men.

And my city let me know
Or perhaps I let her say
That, finally, she knew me.

And I drew her breath
When the breeze was off course
The remnant of a thousand gifts
I took so much for granted
For too long.

I bled in foreign places
Some strange, some small
Revisiting small dents
In the low doors of memory.

And this place
Was always a point in my head
For departures or retreats
Never a home, mostly a castle
Where the spoils would be brought
To be feasted upon.

But I walked on her skin
And for a second, she crept beneath my own
Spreading the warmth of a million wars
A city that can suffer anything
And still remain eternal
A city feared by those outside
Who know simplicity as order
A city where the girls wear no masks
A right you earn under a teargas sun
And as I sank in her skin
Like the smallest of lovers
Like a mite on the left hand of god
I drank, again and again
I drank and I slid
Slid from her lips down to her bosom
No longer a man of in-between
No longer a lie scrawled on the mirror
I slid into what I could do
And with our common lips, I smiled.

Centurion

Deep beneath the petty scars
Sleep the legions.

Their slumber is finally deep
Their dreamless rest forever earned.

Only one pair of footsteps marches
Only one voice commands.

Behind the back, the shield hangs scorned
Beside the words, the blade rests sheathed.

We killed too many monsters
We scorched too much of what we owned.

The fortress is complete, impregnable
No longer necessary in its might.

We grew too much for any vandal;
Only our torches need be heeded now.

We took too many with us as we fell
As we fell to our own immunity.

And now they dwindled and grew small
What was their war became mere anger.

We killed too many monsters;
Now they must endure watching us live.

Their fear is now their own
Their homes are now their burden.

We let them be, let them remember
How we sent our legions to sleep.

We let them flee, let them be free
Let them go perish as they wish.

From deep beneath the petty scars
Our conquered peace has spent them.