Who determines the cost of betrayal?
How highly do we value loyalty?
Should the traitor expect a portrayal
Sympathetic, or marked by great beauty?
Each of us must weigh stark alternatives:
Our values, and the values of others
Often prove to be jailers and captives
We can confuse enemies with brothers
When we betray, we defecate on trust
We slice the net above the hungry void
Vicious is the turncoat’s subtle knife thrust
By smiling villains many are destroyed
Nothing is worth more than friendship sincere
To that precious law, we must all adhere
About the Creator
D. J. Reddall
I write because my time is limited and my imagination is not.
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Easy to read and follow
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Writing reflected the title & theme
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FPS: The Last Flame Challenge Winners
Welcome to our first Winners Announcement of the year and to the final challenge in the Fall Poetry Series. The Last Flame invited writers to sit with endings, using fire as a central image to consider what remains when something burns out: ash, warmth, memory, silence, or the faint promise of what comes next. The strongest pieces treated endings as gradual rather than sudden, allowing them to flicker, dim, and linger.
By Vocal Curation Team6 days ago in Resources
Comments (7)
Your title reminded me of this line from Taylor Swift's song, Is It Over Now?, "You dream of my mouth before it called you a lying traitor" These were my favourite lines as they felt so deep to me: "Our values, and the values of others Often prove to be jailers and captives" Loved your poem!
Well written and well received. Bravo.
betrayal by a kiss is the worst
Nice work!
Amazing work!
I enjoyed it all but that final couplet, booooom! Yes!
You never cease to amaze me. Well done!