26 Comments

At the whim of crowds

We who are about to die

Will kill or be killed

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Ahhh so good!

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Thanks!

I couldn't make "Ave, caesar, morituri te salutante" fit the form...😂

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You get all the points for trying though!

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😂

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Wow! So good!

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Thank you!

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Today, triumphant

Ever-twilit life extends

Impending midnight

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Chilling and deep. I love this so much 🖤🖤🖤

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He heard all the cheers

for the resident butcher.

There were none for him.

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Hopefully his end is quick. Well done, you captured the stark reality very nicely.

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In the Colosseum

Where life and death intertwine

Brutal spectacle

Sweat, blood, and tears mix

As gladiators fight for fame

Or a swift demise

Editors hold sway

Over who lives and who dies

Thumbs seal destiny

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These are so good! The middle one is so deep, too, to think that someone would just want to die to escape. So dark.

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‘No champions here,’

The scarred vet spat, bone-notched blade

In hand. ‘Just victims.’

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I love this perspective! It’s so sobering.

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Thanks! There’s this perspective that gladiators were rockstars, but they were slaves, prisoners, and sacrifices. If you got good at it, it was for survival, not honor or fame. Best you could do is victimize other victims for as long as you could.

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It’s hard to imagine a more brutal existence. Wow.

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I LOVE your use of punctuation.

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Thanks! I try to make every line stand on its own and maybe have it’s own meaning when read by itself

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Every shout makes us bleed,

each cheer dyes the ground red. Now,

are you entertained?

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Brutal truth, well and succinctly said.🖤

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Are we allowed to title these or does that ruin the haiku-ness? I'm gonna title this one.

NEW GLADIATOR

What is this weapon?

I swing this part? On a chain?

Oh there's his brain. Works.

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I am really more of a rebel poet than a stickler. Do what feels right, you know?

Also… this is darkly funny, nice work 🖤

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GLADIATOR is a movie I have watched countless times.

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I’ve only seen it once, but I love reading about gladiators and all of the other horror that was Ancient Rome.

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thumbs up or thumbs down

stop hey what's that sound everyone

look what's going down

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