Maneuver

It was supposed to be easy
but every thread that holds you
seems to need
a unique knife, and you just don’t have
enough.

Still, at times like these
when you awaken at 3:30 AM
and find you’re warm and not alone,
you find yourself bearing down
and sharpening your teeth while the city sleeps.

There’s a reason they say that smiling
can lift your mood, and once
you can smile again
you’re armed
and ready.

It ought not to be
that warfare is the only metaphor
you can find for this.
You decide to call it
self-defense instead.

Hungry, staring down
creditor’s barrels, leaping from
slick stone to rotted stump,
you chew almost free and manage to approach
the fortress.

In a blink it may all
go south, but if the battle
is not to the swift, it will at least go
the way you choose. You smile at the walls
and tug on your bindings until something

gives way.