Fortress
She was a fortress
Rock solid, determined
To stand strong
Against any attack
But she turned the music up
While her king was in his counting house
It was far too loud
She danced on her walls
Flaunted herself, taunted
Received attention, even unwanted
Aware and unaware of her power
He was a fierce and beautiful warrior
Who appeared without warning
And from an unnatural height
Dropped word bombs
To explode her heart
And with her head
He shot arrows of love in many tongues
Until her walls began to crack
She let his fire seep in
And penetrate her
It lit her up and reminded her
Of how cold and lonely it could be
Within her walls
She let herself burn out of control
And almost burned down her entire kingdom
Meanwhile
He was waging his own war
In his head
She, his conquest
Was a just a side attraction
A diversion to avert his attention
An escape from the anguish
Of losing his queen
His castle in ruins, his heart shattered
Winning her love,
Was not enough
To reignite his soul
From the warmth of her walls
She felt him retreating
Taking with him his weapons, his army of words
His declarations of love
She could no longer see his flames
Only darkness
Where his love once lived
Alone, abandoned, cold
She calculated and assessed
What remained from the rubble of his (brief) love
She saw it was not too late for her
She looked inside her heart
Saw her worth
And decided to save herself
To recruit the troops, line them up, do the work,
Put Humpty Dumpty’s wall back together again
Re-build it wider, taller, reinforce it with steel
And turn the music down
Copyright © Marsha Hughes | Year Posted 2020
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