Nature’s Defenders
i.
Sentries
send word
to their kin
of felled trees
near the hallowed heart
of their woodland
home.
ii.
Elven
archers
assemble
at the edge
of a green glade,
dextrously drawing
their faithful longbows
to aim arrows at their
foes.
They await the
command
to shoot.
iii.
Elves
astride enormous
eagles
circle high above
the green glade,
gripping
a mix
of crossbows &
spears.
They await the
command
to swoop.
iv.
Elves
astride elegant
equines
expertly navigate
rough terrain
& dense
underbrush,
holding up their lances
as they ride oh-so
swiftly
to flank the
enemy.
v.
Trees
come alive!
They uproot their
ancient roots
&, giant limbs
swinging,
amble past
inanimate
kindred spirits
towards the trespassers.
vi.
At the edge
of the green
glade,
a royal couple
arrives astride
unicorns
ahead of a great
many units
of spear-wielding
elven guards.
The lovers look to
their musician,
who holds up a
hunting horn
& sounds the solemn
signal
to attack the
axe-wielding
army
of the Ring
wearer.
Michael J.
Leach (@m_jleach)
is an Australian academic and poet. Michael’s poems reside in NatureVolve,
Jalmurra, Plumwood Mountain,
Cordite, Meniscus,
Rabbit, The Blue Nib,
the Medical
Journal of Australia, the Antarctic
Poetry Exhibition, and elsewhere. His poetry has been anthologised
in One Surviving Poem
(In Case of Emergency Press, 2019), No
News: 90 Poets Reflect on a Unique BBC Broadcast (Recent
Work Press, 2020), Still
You: Poems of Illness and Healing (Wolf Ridge Press, 2020), and The
2021 Hippocrates Prize Anthology (The Hippocrates Press, 2021). Michael’s
first book is the chapbook Chronicity (Melbourne Poets Union, 2020). He
lives on unceded Dja Dja Wurrung Country and acknowledges the traditional
custodians of the land.
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