wrathful women massing at the border
like a malignant pregnancy remind me
that I haven't bombed anybody in months
sent my cruise missile after a hardened silo
felt it exploding at minus six inches AGL
heard the undiplomatic cries of surrender
as I become a dictator without a name
for whom do these fur-lined shock troops doff their muslin?
no dummy, I lie back and busily wargame
visualizing thrusts and counter-thrusts
in endless permutations, just to be prepared
as the clucking of these foreign zealots
reaches full auto in my imagined ears
a warrior king, his brilliant robe splayed wide
clutching a staff to suit his position