Monarch

http://marpessaschoice.tumblr.com/post/5858483447/monarch

MONARCH

Conflicted child,

waiting in the

slight of an open doorway.

Others solemnly dressed;

looking sick as

each prepares

for “that look” downward

into the empty vessel

God forbid a teardrop

fall on the perfect

reconstruction,

the image preserved

hiding the shame, the loss

of fire, wanting

so desperately to return

“I don’t… I can’t…”

she might

answer, the child’s

stammering questions

knocking on her mind;

his question for grief;

and there he hid

in discontent

But—

he remembered

the Monarch,

released into unseen colors,

escaping from a pale

sheltered cocoon,

from a world half-known

Submitting itself

to the calm, weightless

arms

of morning’s breath.