Coerced by fear,
I was told to appear naked before
My sovereign broham, and his willing peers.
“If you don’t like it, find another way ’round.”
I protested, but autonomy had become the minority.
Coerced by fear.

Liberty was dying.
“And if they hide it in their ear?”
“Then we shall probe your ear.”
“And if they hide it in their ass?”
“Then we shall probe your ass.”
Liberty was dying.

Dread inspired them.
“And if they stitch it in their bodies?”
His willing peers paused,
But were overwhelmed by thoughts of their cousins, lost since Babel.
“Then we shall find a way, to probe your body.”
Dread inspired them.

Amidst the thunderous applause,
“For the safety of Rome,” they chanted.
“To preserve our way of life,” they sneered.
But I was not so worried about the barbarians,
For I saw the crumbling walls around me,
Amidst the thunderous applause.

“And dignity?”
My broham raised his sword.
And I understood what was once cherished was no more.
“If you don’t like it, find another way ’round.”
My home sweet Rome had lost her sparkle,
And dignity.

So I went ’round,
And watched from the hills,
As it was all burnt down.
For panic kills
. . . And lines the path for the bombs of our lost cousins,
So I went ’round.