The Warning is an excerpt from “Killing Caesar” (2020) by Jon Pescevich.
Portia’s Ghost:
Brutus!
Brutus! Awake!
Listen!
Brutus!
Listen well!
I heard a bustling rumour like a fray,
and now the wind brings it from the Capitol.
I see a mourning Rome.
I see a dangerous Rome.
I see it burn.
Kill!
Slay!
Brutus!
Brutus! Awake!
O Julius Caesar, you are mighty yet!
Was Rome born to die on your sword?
Mark Antony, you are mighty now!
Was Rome born to die on your sword?
O Cassia, you are mighty still!
Was Rome born to die on your sword?
Now that you rule, noble Brutus, tell me now;
was Rome born to die on your sword?
Brutus!
Brutus!
Brutus!
I dreamt that we shall dine tonight with Caesar!
You and I and Cassia…
at Philippi…
we all shall feast together!
(…Portia’s Ghost disappears into images of memory…)