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Elegy for Antinous
What were you doing
among the reeds?
Perhaps a golden bird
caught your fancy,
A painted fish.
When you reached for it,
You tumbled into the river,
Never to resurface.
How the emperor wept
for you.
You were his favorite,
Your beauty and disposition
the sunniest of all Romans.
Not only did he bury you
in an elegant sarcophagus,
But he immortalized your
likeness in marble.
Now,
The world can forever marvel
at your radiance,
A thing not even death could
take away.
@thewaywardpoet
#Antinous #Hadrian #Rome #RomanEmpire #Antiquity #ancient #history #gay #poetry #spontaneousprose
© All Rights Reserved
among the reeds?
Perhaps a golden bird
caught your fancy,
A painted fish.
When you reached for it,
You tumbled into the river,
Never to resurface.
How the emperor wept
for you.
You were his favorite,
Your beauty and disposition
the sunniest of all Romans.
Not only did he bury you
in an elegant sarcophagus,
But he immortalized your
likeness in marble.
Now,
The world can forever marvel
at your radiance,
A thing not even death could
take away.
@thewaywardpoet
#Antinous #Hadrian #Rome #RomanEmpire #Antiquity #ancient #history #gay #poetry #spontaneousprose
© All Rights Reserved
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