Caesar’s Antics
An Original Poem by
Diana Benskin
Copyright@Diana Benskin
While Rome is Crumbling
Caesar is fiddling
Heads of State at loggerheads debating
And his Cabinet staff continue resigning
While Rome is Crumbling
Caesar keeps fiddling
The democracy he is not saving
From the brink of collapsing
Caesar’s leadership skills are not emerging
While Rome is continually crumbling
Another is tactfully recruiting
Those Romans whose skill is inventing
Rome’s citizens are protesting
Their cries Caesar is ignoring
While Rome is crumbling
Caesar is demanding
A show of military might Parading
And to the South a wall he will be building
While Rome is Crumbling
Caesar is rendered powerless as he is fiddling
By force or will Romans are exiting
An orchestrated purging
Caesar’s wish for ethnic cleansing
While Rome is crumbling
Caesar does what he is best at, fiddling
The coffers are no longer brimming
Rome once perched high, now a downward slope spiraling
While Rome is crumbling
Caesar pouts as he is fiddling
The world is watching
The Romans for Caesar’s impeachment they are calling
But at the throne he is steadfastly remaining
While Rome is Crumbling
Caesar has ramped up his fiddling
New laws he is implementing
Tactfully the once United Rome he is slowly dividing
To conquer and rule he will be winning
Romans arise and in Unity Resist!
To conquer Caesar we must persist
Get up Stand up and profoundly insist
This tyranny will no longer be allowed to exist
I am an African born in the Caribbean, the eldest of my 11 Siblings. I was fortunate to end up in the custody of my maternal Uncle and maternal Grandmother after being born to an unwed immigrant mother in the Caribbean.
Under my uncle’s loving care , I was encouraged to speak properly and was given the autonomy to explore my surroundings and to question my uncle on issues that puzzled me. I was encouraged to use my creativity and to read a lot.
The above foundation laid the premise for my inquisitive tones of my poetry and to invoke question and thought in my readers. I also seek to remind and record readers of historical events.
At eight years old I was sexually violated by an unknown assailant, I was told that I went from being a happy go lucky girl , to an angry troublesome child. It was at this time I was quickly jettisoned without any reason given to me back to the care of the woman who birth me.
I no longer enjoyed the free flow of dialogue , instead all I heard was to shut up, no one wants to hear you and your ramblings. I was subjected to verbal, emotional, psychological and physical abuse from her. My mother referred to my poetry as nonsense and crazy ramblings that will amount to nothing. I was a mere child of ten years old when this was being said to me, and so I gave up documenting my thoughts on the world around me, but I retained them in my brain .
“Spoken words from the mouth of this Babe” is the culmination of those ramblings. I have also written my life story, “Per Ardua Ad Astra” Latin for Through difficulty to success. The life story of one West Indian Girl. I am currently working on releasing another Collection “Reflections, Spoken words of an African Immigrant. I am also hoping to release the first in my children’s book series The Adventures of Nugget the dog.
I would like to pay tribute to my Maternal Uncle and Grandmother, and my inspiration for writing poetry Maya Angelou. I would also like to thank Dr. Mac for his infinite encouragement to pursue my writing, to my many friends who were my ears of approval or not when I read them my works initially.
Special thanks to Mrs. Judith Byer who saved my life after I was stabbed by my mother and nearly perished as a teenager. Lastly but not least to my God Mother Helen Weekes (deceased) who was an inspiring surrogate mother to me.
In the poem below, I seek to compare the society in which I reside in today , with that of ancient Rome. As we continually witness the dysfunction played out in the USA. It will be appearing in my upcoming anthology “Reflections, Spoken words of an African Immigrant. I am one of the nominees for Author of the year under the Divas of Color 2018.
Caesar’s Antics
An Original Poem by
Diana Benskin
Copyright@Diana Benskin
While Rome is Crumbling
Caesar is fiddling
Heads of State at loggerheads debating
And his Cabinet staff continue resigning
While Rome is Crumbling
Caesar keeps fiddling
The democracy he is not saving
From the brink of collapsing
Caesar’s leadership skills are not emerging
While Rome is continually crumbling
Another is tactfully recruiting
Those Romans whose skill is inventing
Rome’s citizens are protesting
Their cries Caesar is ignoring
While Rome is crumbling
Caesar is demanding
A show of military might Parading
And to the South a wall he will be building
While Rome is Crumbling
Caesar is rendered powerless as he is fiddling
By force or will Romans are exiting
An orchestrated purging
Caesar’s wish for ethnic cleansing
While Rome is crumbling
Caesar does what he is best at, fiddling
The coffers are no longer brimming
Rome once perched high, now a downward slope spiraling
While Rome is crumbling
Caesar pouts as he is fiddling
The world is watching
The Romans for Caesar’s impeachment they are calling
But at the throne he is steadfastly remaining
While Rome is Crumbling
Caesar has ramped up his fiddling
New laws he is implementing
Tactfully the once United Rome he is slowly dividing
To conquer and rule he will be winning
Romans arise and in Unity Resist!
To conquer Caesar we must persist
Get up Stand up and profoundly insist
This tyranny will no longer be allowed to exist
