The story of the citadel on the hill, by a thicket

Once upon a time, somewhere near a small sea,

on a hill, bordering a thicket surrounding an even smaller village,

there lay a mighty citadel.

Its walls were high,

capable of withstanding attacks coming from both land and sea -- and that it did, during the worst of times.

During the best of times, it had been part of Most Serene Republics, small states and Empires. It was a place of good tidings, quite literally a place of new ones -- a place of trade, but also defended by the men of old against invaders, a task which today's so-called men would deem herculean.

Now there remain only ruins,

a patch of grass yet green in the face of a bare November light

and a lonely cloud, casting its shade across the land.