Hostage

Apologies never lodge
in the mouth of a man
whose one
finely hewn coping skill is
emotional blackmail.

The cognitive dissonance
and sundry indictments
were all
the existential protections
he had left.

And how old was she
when the battlements
grew spikes
and she learned about
the trébuchet?


© 2010 Marcy Stoeckel