[Demosthenes, the acerbic orator, had ridiculed Alexander
as he set out to conquer the world. Was he speaking the
language of peace?]
With sword in hand
the Macedonian boy
came to Athens
of well-formed boy gods
and comely maiden goddesses
strewn around
in the surrounding rocks
and wheat-brown fields
"Wherefore would you fight
Whither ride you your horse?"
They say, even now
The raped widows cry in Persepolis
Those widowed before consummation
In the overflowing Indus
Down the river of sad conquests
swim shields and lances
Of easy commerce with the roving gods
he favoured ultimate punishment
like his hoggish mother
the blood letting of the fatherly,
The harmless Darius
he kept tied to his horse hoofs
the woe of countless people
the invalid dead weight
of well formed youth
In amphitheatres
the actor beats his breast
Only inhuman in the world
sprouts of ogres
that chew iron chains
the Macedonian boy
smacked his lips
and chewed on desire
the long rotten mouse of saliva
In old market squares
an old man still asks for
and drinks hemlock from a wooden bowl
The Macedonian boy
sipped from that bowl
the steel stakes of agony
the vinous spell of gold.
