What’s a Parthenon to a Persian rapist?
Or an Pantheon to a marauding papist?
A sacred site constructed in god’s will
A once timeless tomb now reclaimed landfill.
Historical heroes vying for timeless vestige
All knowing their legacy is a pointless investment.
Beneath their crowns the inkling rides
Reflected in their gilt mirrored tides
That at the end of their succession
They’re little more than a pub quiz question.

The old Khmer empires did it right.
One god king would tear down another’s might
And use the bones to build something better.
War waged and winners weathered
The new Khmer harnessed only destruction.
And can only manage gilded stuppes
And dirty waters.

Imagine all our monuments broken down.
Chipped and smelted.
Powdered an wilted.
Some new upstart with an eye for redecorating
Marching armies with standards high.