He defeated his family…
this battle was won

The war still in doubt,
a General shunned

The casualties lingered,
fatalities mount

Old reasons to fester,
in spite of the count

His Grandmother’s death,
the last coup de gras

The love of his life,
he held her till gone

But after her funeral,
his troops on the run

Tents folded and burned
—the last setting sun

(Villanova Pennsylvania: January, 2020)