Introduction and Table of Contents
Introduction and Table of ContentsThe Proud BumblebeeA Fine MareReflectionMy RosesSome SecretsBlack Churches BurnThe FoxMy ZenithA Present DearBlack Lightn'gWhen Dearest Sleep Betrays My Restless MindEden AgainSome Blesséd DutyDehors ParisThe Lady and the LordShe Gazed Into My Eyes...In London Now...The CriminalMLKBlack Moses At the RiverMichael Brown of FergusonA Gladiator's CryThe Sonnet of a Warrior MartyredMandingo FightingThis PimpKiwi and Cotton Balls' Cadence [aka Ulysses and the Sirens]Judging the "Justice"Mother EarthOn Romney's Vote to Convict [aka Integrity]Sonnet (Cadence) of the American Soldier [aka Heaven's Path Through Hell]
A Gladiator's Cry

A Gladiator's Cry
 
If I must midst some wretched iron bars dwell
While lowly cowards comment on my cage,
Then do not quibble at the reserved rage
Which on occasion simmers from my cell.
My crime, my crime, what is it I have done,
To be the object of such intense gaze?
Am I a mouse trapped in some Goddamn maze?
No, I must stand and fight; I cannot run!
And I have seen so much o'er these few years.
The madness of the rank mob as they cheer.
The fickleness of fake love when they jeer.
No pain nor pleasure makes mine eyes shed tears.
Though when I raise my trusted sword, I cry,
"For Caesar, I fight well or nobly die!"
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Copyright 2021 Bernard A. Quarterman, Jr.