Decimation

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 Poets and Storytellers United

Friday Writings #200: 

"...write something about, or including, the number 10. And/or write a 10-line poem."

I have written a 10-line poem using the word decimate.

Decimate: to destroy, to remove one tenth

from the Latin decimus, meaning ten

image source 

Rebellious ones in the Legions of Rome,

be afraid.

Decimation is upon you for your cowardice.

Gather by tens for judgment,

shake in fear.

Pick your stone, and beg Fortuna her wheel pass you by.

Her fortune is random, the odds in your favor.

Spare you she may,

yet nine throw the stones, nine raise their clubs.

Shared guilt, a lesson in obedience.

©2025 Lisa Smith Nelson. All Rights Reserved  

Comments

  1. MarjaOctober 24, 2025 at 12:44 PM

    Well written The control of the rebellious ones and the stones are still thrown

    ReplyDelete
  2. Rosemary Nissen-WadeOctober 24, 2025 at 3:21 PM

    Wow, this one certainly gave me pause for reflection!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. LisaOctober 25, 2025 at 7:54 AM

      I have no idea why this "ten" jumped into my head! So many "ten" references.

      Delete
  3. JimOctober 24, 2025 at 7:58 PM

    Lisa, you went wild with fiction on this one. I enjoyed reading it though. Could Fortuna's wheel have had one point? Like spin the bottle?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. LisaOctober 25, 2025 at 7:53 AM

      Oh, Jim, this isn't fiction! It's history, it's how they really did it! Fortuna's wheel is illustrated as rather like the one on Wheel of Fortune, a wheel, with the one point. So, spin the bottle but upright.

      Delete
  4. HelenOctober 27, 2025 at 8:24 AM

    THIS is a great poem!!! I award you the highest score of TEN!!!!!

    ReplyDelete
  5. purplepeninportland.comOctober 30, 2025 at 5:10 PM

    Interesting take on this prompt.

    ReplyDelete
  6. SumandebrayOctober 31, 2025 at 11:56 AM

    Very nice poem! Decimation also appears in my piece, and now I can’t help but wonder — in a life many lives before this one, might I have been one of those rebels who fell to the Roman emperor’s decree?

    ReplyDelete

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