Cleopatra the First

Helen of Troy would surely have been jealous
Whose beauty truly launched a thousand ships?
Who was a living goddess to her zealous
and pious subjects, their apocalypse

A Greek ruling in Egypt, woman, mother
Within a whisker of “Queen of the World”
Her lovers vying to outdo each other
Antony, Caesar, banners are unfurled

She hid in Caesar’s carpet – this seduction
Egyptian pharaoh tames a Roman beast
Planted the seed of Caesar’s own destruction
A Roman Consul, smitten by the East

Then Rome, Caesarian, and what comes after
Escape to Alexandria and war
Death by a snake, or hairpin, and the laughter
Augustus, now a dictator, and more

What would have been if Anthony had stricken
Octavian, when he was close to home
We cannot know it, but the pulse does quicken
To think of Cleopatra, Queen of Rome

Author notes: https://allpoetry.com/contest/2785551-Cleopatra