The Dare

by David P. Gontar (August 2016)

Storming over the steep crest we bounded,

a pack of slick, scorched faces

charging the crazed foe,

swirling about our heads stems of tall grasses

to hurl the muddy boluses against our enemies.

And as we tumbled in the bowels of battle,

we met a gash in earth,

deep and fathomless as hell.

A blink told all

who dared to leap across would be the victor.

They gaped at me.

and heedless of extinction flung

my small bones in air.

Darkness swallowed me around

and cold winds swept below.

 

Now am I old, and withered to the boy I was.

A rebel blood turned royal jelly usurps my heart.

The doctors, weary of my plight, are going home.

But I must jump again.

 

_________________________

 

Unreading Shakespeare. He is also the author of Hamlet Made Simple and Other Essays, New English Review Press, 2013.

 

To comment on this poem or to share on social media, please click here.

To help New English Review continue to publish thought provoking poems such as this one, please click here.

If you have enjoyed this poem by David P. Gontar and would like to read more of his work, please click here.