Teutoburg Forest

If your rule

is with a fist of fear

and the threat of crucifixion 

held over the powerless

the betrayal that you 

have forged for yourself

is coming 

through the quiet 

of the trees.

The child Arminius

of the tribe of Cherusci

was held 

as a hostage in Rome

far from his family

but they were not 

forgotten. 

In secret 

he made an alliance

of the Germanic peoples

to fight the cruelty

of the Roman oppressors

their sullen hatred

smoldered in the 

dark leaf mold

where the lesser branches

fall to lie

on the fragrant earth. 

When Varus led

the three legions

northeast of Osnabrück

through the narrow passage

a wild storm raged about them

and only then 

did Arminius direct

the Germanic tribes

to fall upon the Romans 

with a rain of javelins

and fremae. 

Fifteen thousand fell

cut down or cooked 

for their bones

or falling on their own 

spears 

through the forest

during the night march

and in the field

while the torrential 

rain continued

with a defeat so absolute

that even the emperor Augustus 

hit his head in disgust

over and over

against the walls of the 

palace.

The Hermannsdenkmal circa 1900, monument to Arminius in the Teutoburger Wald.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_the_Teutoburg_Forest#/media/File:Hermannsdenkmal_1900.jpg