image from pinterest.com
Poem written for and submitted to “Forts and Castles Poetry Contest,” Craig Cornish, sponsor, October 11, 2025.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ we built them in closets with worn out bed sheets and couch cushions heavy as boulders. the flashlight’s beam cut through the dark, a knight's sword, our citadel against bedtime. the carpet was moat-water, broomsticks and mops our armored steeds. We drew maps on pizza box lids— Here Be Dragons in red crayon, Mom's vacuum sketched as a sea monster with fangs of dust. there were no stone towers, just laundry-basket turrets and battlements of stacked books where discarded milk crates became our thrones. we knew the magic: how a blanket draped just so could turn December drafts into mountain winds~ they stood until Monday, these cardboard kingdoms— until recycling bins swallowed the ramparts whole, leaving only carpet dents where dragons breathed. And us—we still smelt of marker ink and dust already scanning the garage for next Saturday's unconquered country.
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