"A Brothers' Quarrel"

This poem is inspired by the story of Romulus and Remus.

"A Brothers' Quarrel"

You were just two boys when your fates were set.
Born to the guilty woman of the forest and the violent god of war,
you were feared by the King of Alba Long.

With your mother imprisoned, you were to be killed.
But the gods had mercy on your then-innocent souls,
and you were set adrift on the river Tiber.
The river, overflowing, carried you and set you by the bank.

 You were just two boys when your lives paths were decided.
A she-wolf found you, having lost pups of her own.
She took you under her care and protection.
She suckled you and a woodpecker fed you,
then a shepherd found you and took you under his care,
and you were raised among your own kind.

You were just barely adults when your destinies began.
Two brothers. Twins.
You wanted to found a city together.
A city where the she-wolf found you and raised you.
But you could not agree on a site.
Dear Remus, the quarrel ended your life, and that was your fate.

Romulus, you truly were the son of Mars.
Violent. Conflicting.
You murdered your twin and went on your way.
Your brother dead, you moved on.
You founded the city, made yourself king,
and named it after yourself.
Selfish.
And then you disappeared, carried away by a whirlwind,
and that was your fate.

Romulus and Remus.
You were twins.
But you were quarreling brothers,
Fighting to the death,
Over the site of a city.
Perhaps it was the Mars in you,
Or the ferocity of the she-wolf after the short time raised by her.
But you could not get along.
And now only Rome stands to show
The result of a brothers' quarrel.