They found themselves within our path
these liars, standing at the gates of Sarnath.
All the truth in them, beliefs, desires,
cloaked and battle scarred and burnt on pyres
their ashes soaked up in the aftermath.
The bloodbath ended, you stood ever higher.
Face somber, body bent, but eyes much brighter
than these fiends could see from their quagmire
buried in the flotsam of your wrath.
They built themselves a road into Sarnath
these toads disguised as friends, these fiendish liars.
But our residents are clever things and set the pyres
burning long before they sought our shores.
And you, my darling, brought them to all fours
their embers glowing in the aftermath.
Header image from here.
What a “fantastic” rondeau. You made it so seamless. ☺
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Thank you! It was really fun to write!
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I had to Google the title, but that made me realize how you combined two springboards (the Lovecraft story and the rondeau form) to create something new.
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I love me some Lovecraft, it’s true. 🙂
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Beautiful verse and form.
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Thank you!
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Thanks for the Lovecraft intro! I enjoyed “buried in the flotsam of your wrath” and the way you repeated certain phrases and words. Both made the poem feel like a fable to me.
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The fact that you thought it was like a fable is seriously the best compliment I could have gotten. Thank you!
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