The King of Suicides
After
Death on a Pale Horse by J.M.W. Turner
Azrael comes charging through the lime
and kiln smoke. Glorious in red he rides,
a gladiator in a Roman pantomime.
Miasma bleeds quinacridone and grime,
the battlefield exhales triglycerides.
Azrael comes charging through the lime,
an echo of the dying Gaul in slime
and agony whose tortured frame elides
the gladiator in a Roman pantomime,
our claustrophobic nightmares, and a crime
against humanity. He writhes and slides.
Azrael comes charging through the lime,
a rack of venison at Christmastime.
He gestures in the air of Ironsides,
a gladiator in a Roman pantomime.
Struck-dumb soliloquy in perfect rhyme,
the death rasp of The King of Suicides.
Azrael comes charging through the lime,
a gladiator in Roman a pantomime.
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Line 13: cut "glowing" from glowing venison.
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