Trapped, by Joan Kantor

Buste d’homme accoude, artist not known, late 15th century. Ji-Elle, CC BY-SA 3.0 , via Wikimedia Commons

Trapped

He’s been caught off guard
contemplating his future
his fate
as a medieval misfit

His brow is furrowed
and his tilted head weighs heavily
in the palm of his hand 

Having only moments left
to be who he is 
there’s resignation
and sadness 
in his soulful brown eyes

The church is in charge
and with no other choice 
but hopeless deception 
he’ll be wed
by the end of the day

Joan Kantor

Joan Kantor has completed several poetry collections and has been published in numerous journals. She has won The Hackney Literary Award for Poetry, first place for poetry in The Writer’s Digest Self-Published Book Awards and has been a finalist in several other contests.  She has mentored young poets at The Sunken Garden Poetry Festival, performs in Stringing Words Together (violinist and poet duo) and does readings and workshops throughout the Northeast and Florida. Her work focuses on nature, the human condition and the arts.