“Serpent Filled Skies” was exhibited at the National Gallery of Art in Rome (hosted by Satyrus Gallery) on July 8th, 2024

All was calm in days undone,

Like cool poetry written in the fading sun,

The tepid peace in Elysium,

To the rousing of all glum senators,

Simple contentment, a king's decree,

Now shattered silence, a symphony.

A ripple stirred in that Amphitheatre,

A lone poet though none could hear his whispers;

“I looked up to you,

More than you know,

I worked so hard for your love,

My world shattered in half,

As you rained down terror above,

Your disappointment, more than enough,

But who can we ever really know?”

Scales slither through sand and marble, through quiet ambience,

Soldiers of beauty, once solid in repose, Engulfed by serpents, and all that they know

To live and love by the weeping rose,

They hold on tight,

As they writhe.

On parchment and coins, the day takes its form,

A tapestry woven in a gathering storm.

The king dethroned, by whispers untold,

The court's grand illusion, a story grown cold.

Golden-clad warriors, bathed in sun's fire, Ozymandius fallen, his reign as a liar.

A king beheaded, a crown cast aside,

His deeds writ in whispers, where vipers reside.

Metaphors slithering, a venomous truth,

The court a viper's den, devoid of youth.

In pits of darkness, where shadows convene,

Teeth glinting like stars, in a writhing scene. Golden statues weep, in the flickering light, Power in their poisonous bite.

On parchment and pennies in time,

Every morning we make up this life.

A den of vipers swirl in the pits,

Beneath soldiers of beauty,

How their teeth shine,

With all the burning light and wriggling night,

The golden climbs of each statue that shines.

Power in their poison,

One day it happened, those vipers burst forth,

From the populous and revealed their scales,

He saw at last from the shadows, the truth does prevail,

A different side to their tail,

Reigning with venom, reigning in hell,

From the depths of the soul.

A kaleidoscope of gnashing teeth,

Lift the people in the watery depths of Rome,

Out of the unknown.

An army awakened, in serpent-filled skies.

From their sleeping states it makes,

Sliding wrasps they whisper those secret texts,

Amphitheatres echo, with slithering calls,

A kaleidoscope gnashing, through crumbling walls.

From Rome's watery depths, a people arise.

The vipers erupted, from shadows they came,

Scales glinting, revealing a world aflame. Senates consumed, by whispers that creep, A reign of damnation, where nightmares sleep.

Rise a monarch.

From this pit, from this source,

His sword no better than what came before,

Rise in the night, rise now and fight.

From the tomb of their tranquil plight;

Surprise.

Hold cutlets and daggers by your side,

This is your time, arise.

~ Laurence Fuller, 2024

Created for NFTcc, Immersive Exhibit in Rome 2024 with Satyrus Gallery

Poetry & AI Animation & Music & Produced & Performed by Laurence Fuller

@LaurenceFuller