Star Fort

We have our own fortress in our home

Fortification plan of Coevorden, laid out in a radial pattern within polygonal fortifications and extensive outer earthworks as reconstructed in the early seventeenth century by Maurice, Prince of Orange. Illustration by Markus Schweiss — Own work, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=30079

While the Trump Pandemic has
people trapped in homes
like prisoners in cells
she & I feel ensconced
in our star fort where we
hold off foes who threaten.

Our citadel with walls
but no dungeons has
a garden bright and green
to hold the sun even
on cloudy days that steal
the color from our lives.

Our family and friends
are 2D with pixels
but we talk and we laugh
so that lonesome exists
but only briefly (but
we do miss hugs, sometimes).

We have books (some by friends)
or Netflix or Disney
or we just watch the birds
swoop for the seeds before
greedy squirrels prance in
then retreat with fat cheeks.

We talk to each other
about life and our dreams
our sadness and our hopes
the places we’ll go once
we walk outside and touch
faces of folks we know.

But should darkness endure
coming over the walls
to give us final sleep
we will pass on knowing
life in our star fortress
was truly wonderful

Because we had each other.

Star forts were a manifestation of the gunpowder age, constructed in shapes like stars to minimize enemy cannon fire while optimizing defensive fire. Explosive shells, and later aircraft weaponry, made them useful only as museums.

For my wife, Debra, my morning and evening star.

And for Jenny Justice, who has done some pretty nice Star Week poems.

A Justice Poetic July

My list:

I See Your Light with My Eyes Shut

Twinkle Twinkle Pretty Star

You Are My Star, My Center

Strange Attractor

“Space is deep, Excellency.”

Stars Like A Wheel