Both Virgil and Homer
Recounted the story of Troy
Epic or myth is not certain
But the plan was masterful
For many a long day the Greeks had pressed
Yet could not enter nor vanquish
The Trojan people or their army
Which festered like a tumour in the pride of the invaders
So they presented a horse
Now the eponymous equine stealth
A massive wooden reparation
For the victors inside the city
From the departing losers
Who made to go home
Fooling most, though not all,
That their warriors were effete and gone
But inside the wooden animal
Were a clutch of the not-so-wooden elite
Of the erstwhile invaders
Who with surprise and speed
Rendered the celebrating victors
Some lethal targeted blows
Unnerving the defensive structure
When least expected
Millennia on
And still not fully certain
Stealth is with us again
Nanoscopic not monolithic
The little Troys are now cancers
Evasive cells that repulse many an attack
Through defences that mutate
Capable of avoiding the spears of chemical drugs
Their walls and membranes so powerful
That few lethal molecules can pass
Turning their attention to weaker parts of the host
In hair follicles and intestines
The chemo-infantry have to stand aside
And give way to special agents
Trained to befriend the guards at the gate
Slipping their cocktail between arms and legs into the lair
Antibody targeted, magnetically guided
The minute nanocreatures
Attack the enemy
Leaving aside workers, straight for the queen
Where they deliver their toxic payload
Like the elite Grecian swordsmen
Once inside the malignant enemy
No defence survives
North Carolina, USA, April 2014
