THE FAKE

THE FAKE

He too did not wear a mask but he was the fake,

He was false in every task while he was awake!

Of his archetype if you ask there lay the mistake,

In whose glory he did bask and a living make!

He did replace one Maximus, quite an exemplar,

While the latter dubiously vanished when still popular;

And in his place there had to rise this common burglar,

It little mattered he was Dantalion, he looked very similar!

Sneak thief became the head honcho of the Underworld,

Nobody knew among the henchmen, whether young or old!

Though he never fired a bullet or a bomb he hurled,

Fear never blocked his gullet, only his moustache he twirled!

He was clever with words like Maximus was not;

Unlike the reign of terror, under him not a man was shot!

Still in the name of the dead it was quite a lot he got,

He only had to learn to live with the women so hot!

The role was too good and he was the superior artist,

He understood what not to be and was not an egotist;

Still better he knew till what time he could persist,

Money and power notwithstanding, which he had to resist!

Thus it was again an evening when the dead died once more,

After nine days in gangland, when no more he had to explore;

A whole fortune at his disposal nevermore to outscore,

With the limits he could spend, he vanished with a paramour!