The Rise And Fall

the came from the east, they brought horses to our cultivated

lands, the gave power to our have-nots. they took our culture,

they brought new customs to our burial grounds, broadened the

bases of our history. they came from the east, replaced our

despots with their caliphates, conquered but tolerated our gods.

they brought us wisdom, they brought a zero to our tired

calculations, they guarded knowledge we'd forgotten. they came

from the east. byzantium (a city of moths) crumbled into a dust

that plunged europe into the dark. constantinople (a metropolis

of candles) brought light to our books as europe forgot how to

read. let's make this stage our rubicon, let's cast a die, let's

let history decide. and as i cross it, i chase aeneas back to his

ships, i bring the rhythm back to the hips. and as rome is

consumed, as i fiddle this whisper tune on these strings,

friends, i have no need of your ears. so let's make this stage

our rubicon, our frozen rhine, our yippie picket line - and i

caesar hoffman! - and as i cross it, i bring the central asian

steppe sweeping into the wilds of europe. i make my bedroom

rome, i make this city my home, i am remus come from the dead,

come to tell you all to sack this city tonight, let's sack this

city tonight, because i always heard better in the dark. thus

immersed in barbarous longing.