Gift Horse

Once upon a time, a gang of dark horse Bronze Age thugs huddled in the belly of a hulking hobby horse, tricking their Trojan enemies into accepting a monstrous gift.

Once inside Troy’s gates, forty Greek grunts emerged like foul foals from the wooden mare’s gut to siege and sack Paris’ sleeping posse.

A mob of Mediterranean men bent on revenge for the seduction of Leda’s fledgling granddaughter transformed Troy’s equestrian mascot for monumental treachery. 

Winning the Trojan war brought Greek bragging rights as
hollow        hollow             hollow       
as the horse.

City razed, temples desecrated, women widowed, the spoils-laden, the chest-bumping victors headed home, hobbled by fuming gods hell-bent on shipwrecking sailors and saddling Grecian gifts forever with suspicions of insincerity, and paving the way to Western Civilization’s fascination with toxic masculinity.

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Jude Luttrell Bradley

+ postsBio

Jude is a Pushcart-nominated writer whose work is inspired by myth, legend, folklore, classical literature, and art. Her poems, flash fiction, plays, and short stories appear in diverse publications including Thimble, Moon Love, Tupelo Press, Ekphrastic Review. Jude's work has earned commendations from literary journals including the Atlanta Review and Munster Literature Centre. In addition to being a writer Jude is an avid gardener and hiker. She is the Reverend Al Green’s most devoted fan.

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