Warning Signals

Do not trust the horse, Trojans! Whatever it is, I fear the Greeks, even bringing gifts.
~Virgil, The Aeneid

Trojan Horse in front of the Schliemann Museum, Ankershagen
photo by Christof Bobzin

Wooden Horse
by Tabatha Yeatts

When the last plank
was placed,
they couldn't wait
to clamber inside.

No horse;
I was a dragon, waking,
mute but deadly,
with rumblings of
fire in my belly.

I imagined giving
warning signals;
The most I could do
was creak ominously,

bend beneath
the warriors' feet
with a groan
that might have made
a child shiver,

clutch a hand for comfort,
hide their favorite toy away
in the safest place they knew.

But no one heard me,
moaning beyond the gates,

no one heard me
on their final night
of gentle dreams.

********

Visit Diane at Random Noodling for the Poetry Friday round-up.