The cats of Troy
disdained doggish devotion
to the hands that fed them,
judged with dispassion
Trojans and Achaeans alike.
Admired Achilles's arrogance,
his armored mastery of war,
the ruthless sprinter's grace
with which he chased doomed Hector
thrice round their walls.
Heeded Cassandra's prophecies,
left before that hollow horse arrived,
sped to the ships, the wine-dark sea,
the surety of welcome
from the sailors.
Mary Soon Lee was born and raised in London, but has lived in Pittsburgh for thirty years. She is a Grand Master of the Science Fiction & Fantasy Poetry Association, and three-time winner of both the AnLab Readers' Award and the Rhysling Award. The first print edition of her epic-fantasy-told-in-poems, The Sign of the Dragon, was published in January 2025. She hides her online presence with a cryptically named website (marysoonlee.com) and an equally cryptic BlueSky account (@marysoonlee.bsky.social).
