Beware of Bandits

Caligula was brought down!
It's true - he thought he'd outrun them,
but the bandits found a hidden throttle -
an ancient afterburner, in the ruins of their greed
They tore up the road to catch him,
hauled him from his horse
and like Gulliver, he was lashed
by whip-cracked ropes, by pangolin tongues,
to baking stones.
Force-basked.

After yanking the knots tight,
they left him for the night, for the badgers,
and set out, laughing, clapping backs,
to forget about him forever

Bats, fizz of crickets;
He must keep his mouth open
and swallow the spiders and woodlice
that crawl in

But his Caesonia sneaks out to lie beside him
and pour coffee between his lips,
while he gargles sweet eels of revenge
and they're in love
like buddies in a war film src="http://ic1.deviantart.com/fs4/i/2005/140/5/b/Spitfire_and_Shuriken_Page_..." />