This selection is included in NonBinary Review Issue #4, available here.

What a wonder, the weaving of the web—

that thread, so soft, and silent formed;
that you could love me, unadorned.

What a wonder, that the ring of steel should be,
our holy bands, our first dichotomy.

And was not Cupid's arrow dashed,
on the breast of this sprightly lass;
nor features fair from Aphrodite's bless,
that brought you to this mortal Mistress.

To the ring of steel, you hied.
It was Lord Ares who played guide.

It was mail gauntleted hands, which brushed aside fear
It was the ring of steel which brought you near.

What a wonder, the weaving of the web—

That sweat soaked embrace could not detract,
from this one improbable fact; that for us,
the joining was—a martial act.

Deborah Guzzi is a healing facilitator. Occasionally, she writes for Massage and Aroma Therapy Magazines. Her poetry appears in magazines in the UK, Exsistere in Canada, Tincture in Australia, Cha:Asian Literary Review, China, others in India, Greece, and the USA.