Treachery and disaster
A warning unheeded
“Trust not the Horse”
“Beware the Greeks bearing gifts”
A hurled spear
Sways no opinions
Only angers the petty gods
Athena rages from on high
Shaking the very pillars of the Earth
Steals Laocoon’s vision
Yes, it’s desperate measures
“Burn the horse, burn the horse
And you will see what I cannot”

But the Goddess was with the Greeks that day
“Feel my wrath and pay with your life,
And the lives of your sons”

Stinging venom, teeth like knives
The serpents rose from the sea
Agony and suffering, muscles straining
Contorted in pain, Laocoon has no redeemer

Header Image: Detail from The Procession of the Trojan Horse in Troy by Domenico Tiepolo (1773), inspired by Virgil’s Aeneid