Abortive Siege
by Frank De Canio



Could I, who planned to storm your citadel
and consummate my expedition’s quest,
be so deficient in matériel
that I felt less oppressor than oppressed?
And later when I murmured terms of peace
before the flanking sentries of your face,
your militant maneuvers wouldn’t cease
to hound my weary legions back to base.
Thus I surrendered, startled by your glare
of triumph at seducing me to breach
a stony fortress whose chargés d’affaires
would mock the furthest limits of my reach.
For there, although mere outpost of your heart,
my armored Mars was pierced by Cupid’s dart.





Illya's Honey Literary Journal

Copyright © by Dallas Poets Community. First Rights Reserved. All other rights revert to the authors.