Death of Laocoon

Shimmering scales skim the sea:
The ceaseless coils of a dragon pair
Proceed across a serene abyss,
Marking a sanguine-coloured destiny.

Minerva’s slithering twosome:
Hissing mouths and darting tongues
Seek the doomed priest of Neptune,
One last sign masking Sinon’s deceit.

Sliding side by side they advance:
Blood-red crests introduce lofty heads
And blazing eyes, a prophesy of death
Scattering the swarm of citizens.

Sibilantly they cross scorched fields:
Snaking towards the citadel
Announcing Minerva’s gift of death,
Sights set on the fated spear-thrower.

Gleaming, scaly backs snake around
The ill-gotten sons of Laocoon,
Entwining them in their feral clasp
To the sound of a maddened father’s cries.

Coming to their aid, he too is seized:
Straining to burst the constricting knots,
The emerald serpents’ massive coils
Twice encircle his waist and neck.

Steeped in black venom
His hideous cries and gasping breaths
Tell of blood-soaked women and children,
fallen walls and a city burnt to the ground.