For a time a great city of the world, Constantinople
Powerful stood upon the shores of the Golden Horn
It was once the center of the Eastern Roman Empire
At one point, it was more Roman than Rome
Like the Romans, Byzantines fought hard
Every battle was fought desperately
But modernity respects only power
And there upon the Golden Horn
A confluence of beauty and strength
The final frontier for Rome stood
Byzantines were creative in defense
In final days of its existence,
The drums and invaders, waited
To bring Constantinople's final hour
Few troops remained and died to the last
The waters of the Golden Horn churned
Tides pull, but now were colored red
When the dead outnumbered the living
The waters stank with the unburied dead
Gradually the naval forces came home
Their ships destroyed and sinking
And the bloated corpses floated ashore
