Once I rose above the valleys,
I was bigger than anyone.
And no-one climbed me;
now I am stepped over by everyone.

Nails of a hundred sandals:
Are they Romans? No, Vandals!

I am broken into a thousand pieces,
weeds between my joints,
and no longer eagles of the gods,
but drunks from taverns.

Nails of a hundred sandals:
Are they Romans? No, Vandals!

Now I bear horses' hooves,
farmers' carts, shouting,
and if cows are passing by,
they splatter me with dirty shit!

Nails of a hundred sandals:
Are they Romans? No, Vandals!

***

Author's Note: This was originally a Dutch poem, but I also wrote a version in Latin. Below are some notes about Latin poetry and this poem, and then the Latin version I wrote:

1) Latin poetry was always written in a metre, i.e. a rhythm based on syllables, since poetry was always read out loud. Originally, metre was based on the length of the syllables and how long and short syllables alternated. In the Middle Ages, this shifted to stressed vs. unstressed, both in Latin and other languages. If you look at a Shakespearean sonnet, the metre is based on the alternation of unstressed-stressed (= an iamb).
2) The original Latin version of my poem (currently not published here) didn't have a consistent metre (or rhyme scheme), and I wanted to have at least one of those, since the Dutch version (aka, the true original) has both. I have now edited each line to have 8 syllables in a rhythm of stressed-unstressed (= a trochee), making this a trochaic tetrameter. With about 4 exceptions (if I've counted correctly), I've also followed the classical meter of long-short.
3) The biggest rule of Latin meter I conveniently ignored is that if one word ends with a vowel and another starts with a vowel, you get elision of the first vowel. I've ... not done this all 4 times it happened.
4) The English translation is of the Latin version, so it's slightly different than if I had translated the Dutch poem. The translation has neither rhyme nor meter (unlike the Dutch poem) and is pretty literal.
5) This is the first thing I've ever written in Latin, other than my Latin linguistics exams, and I'm a little surprised I started with poetry instead of a prose, and translation instead of a piece originally written in Latin. I wrote this poem for a prompt in my writing club ("a pavement tile speaks ..." - but it could also be any other material that makes up a road) and was inspired by a lament in the Carmina Burana of a swan who used to fly over the lakes, but is now being cooked (and a little burnt) for hungry people in a tavern:

https://youtu.be/5wJzp4QWDOQ

De viae Romanae gaudiis

Olim saltus superabam,
grandior quibusvis eram.
Neque quisquam me ascendit;
nunc ab omnibus transcendor.

Centum solearum clavi:
sunt Romani? Haud, Vandali!

Rupta sum in mille partes,
herbae inter coagmenta,
nec iam aquilae deorum,
sed bibones ex tabernis.

Centum solearum clavi:
sunt Romani? Haud, Vandali!

Equum soleas nunc fero,
carros rusticos, clamorem,
et si boves praetereunt,
me aspergunt merda spurca!

Centum solearum clavi:
sunt Romani? Haud, Vandali!