Eight: Queen (poem)
Queen
She could be his ruling queen
The very air she parts is queen
the dotted outline flees the figure
shoplifts
the game is put-it-together
dress yourself in sidewalk snatches
chess the layout, barest thigh passage
between parked cars
twos and threes
chattering in volatile depth of gesture
tranches and diagonals ahead
she plots
She could draw pirate eyes
I, me bucko, too am Pirate
Queen, some passersby are outer space
In secret some the famous dead
able to fling their capes
And she wanted not to dream
Of the long, widening staircase
The hush
The devastating layers of leather and sateen
The heeled lace-up
Queen, all you bitches
Accept the queen
King’s Bishop
(2021, Stephanie Foster)