U) Tyrant

A crystal waterfall of truth
Drowns your laughter
(and the screams of your victims),
As the crowd turns
(one neck exposed),
Parading
Before the gathering of your nightmares
(majestic and silent).
Dragged through the burning dust
(judged and sentenced),
You are left exposed on the steps,
The shame of years
On your broken flesh.

And now
(and now, in this wicked time),
They whisper your name in the desert
(the deep desert)
In fear and reverence
As though it could shatter mountains
And destroy worlds.

The salacious echoes of your life
Cast their shadows
(in the darkness)
In forbidden books
And secret rooms
(and secret hearts).

Once a man, a simple man of flesh and blood
(a man like you, a man like me),
A man become god,
By self proclamation,
A god and a devil.

Once a king, once a god,
Now just dreams in the dust.