Ambushers - Original

The darkness of midnight was at its peak,
And shrouded by it were a man and his love.
Their affairs were notorious in the era,
And even more scandalous than the schemes of Hera.

All of the land had eyes on the lovebirds,
‘Cause they were the source of their salvation.
But prowling about in the bushes around the two,
Were deathly shadows waiting to do their master’s bidding.

But a handful of braves stood to defend
The lives of the couple to the very end.
The great captain of the squad through years of fight,
Had long foreseen this fateful night.

In a valiant attempt for one last stand,
He rallied his men to take up arms.
A pitch-black crow flew under the moon,
Casting a shadow that marked a certain doom

The men were staunch like the three hundred Spartans,
Confident that all would learn of their great deed.
Alas, the dreaded hour had befallen the land,
As the love doves closed in for their untimely kiss.

The captain mustered his battalion to the rescue,
But his gallant attempt failed at the end.
The assassins soared up from their bushes of refuge,
And launched a volley of shots at the couple.

The captain arrived to unleash all wraths,
But the assassins scampered away in all possible paths.
They ran into the night with their high-def pictures,
Which showed Britney and K-Fed once again together.

The couple blinked trying to shake off the barrage,
And the captain of the bodyguards stood there ruefully.
By next day the photos were seen by all,
And made front cover headlines over the disaster in Darfur.


This poem is written in the form of a mock epic. It satirizes the modern-day society’s dependency on celebrities. Up until the end of the poem, the reader should be thinking that the poem describes an ancient assassination story, but is hit with the revelation of the true plot. Mostly the poem is just for fun, but the last line does offer some insight into how our over-focused attention to the lives of idols leaves little room for more important things to be noticed.
Some elements of poetic devices are scattered through the poem. The poem rhymes irregularly. I used allusions, such as the mention of “Hera” and the “three hundred Spartans.” There is also simile in the poem, such as the line “The men were staunch like the three hundred Spartans.”
This poem fits the theme of war as a witty and light aspect of war.