How empire ends

Photo by British Library on Unsplash

Gradually, then suddenly
an empire stops looking and feeling imperial
forgets where it left its glasses
or its founding principles
loses track of important things
loses wars
but pretends not to
loses friends
but pretends it doesn't care
or that they weren't friends to begin with
can't find its wallet or keys
looks old and tired all the time
but takes lots of pills and supplements
forgets how it became an empire
forgets who it is.