Imprisoned, by Betsy Mars

Oscar Wilde, by Robert Goodloe Harper Pennington (USA). 1883, with prison door. Queer British Art exhibition at the Tate, 2017.

​Imprisoned

Boxed in, his tall frame
enflamed and defamed,
standing elegantly before the fall,
gloves in hand,
 
ready to take on the world
at a glance, throwing down
the gauntlet,
betrayed by his stance,
 
he refused to deny himself,
or who he was
in all his glory, storied
outlandish ways
 
he set himself apart
with wit and style
to be taken apart
when fashion changed
 
without the guile to bite
his tongue, betrayed him
self when he did not spite
the love that dare not
 
speak its name.

​Betsy Mars

Betsy Mars is a poet, educator, mother, animal lover, and travel fanatic who lives in the Los Angeles area. She finds her adrenaline rush in taking new and strange substitute teaching jobs as often as her psyche allows, while trying to maintain the balance she needs to write. Her work has appeared in the California Quarterly, Illya's Honey, and the Rise Up Review, among others.

Oscar Wilde, by Robert Goodloe Harper Pennington (USA). 1883.