"She Who Disbands Armies" by Amy Lawless

This poem was ruled ineligible for the BAP challenge because the poet left out a letter of Louise Gluck's name and the resulting poem was one line short. Nevertheless "She Who Disbands Armies" so impressed us with its comic vitality and high spirits that we happily post it here. -- DL

She Who Disbands Armies

“‘Haven't you ever heard of Lysistrata?’

‘Yeah, isn't that a mouthwash?’”

                                                    —Gilligan’s Island

Lysistrata blue balled soldiers with names like

Ulysses and Kinesias by holstering her half-inch clit—

instead of unsheathing, their swords were cockblocked.

(Suggest the need for hookers, less freedom.  Suggest Jennys rubbing against

each hand peacefully for the cause.)  The gunners return to war; now

gleeful to cooperate with those camel-fuckers.

Looser this time, nothing to lose.  Calendars without Caesarians.

Über this cloud is no watching God—just more frustrated men.  Finally, man

claims his own humanity.  Pressing against his canvas, advancing.

Kickback some green to Nietzsche. He was right: no one slept last night.

-- Amy Lawless

Comments

[Cockblocker]

LOL, couldn't you have just pretended there was a throwaway second line? "...like / Ohhhhhhhhhhhhh, I don't know, let's say / Ulysses..." or something? Great poem anyway!