King Queen

from "The Palace"


I woke myself this morning
and entered door number one.
Someone called it “daylight,”
but I called it “door number one,”

one of several thresholds I had to cross,
and with my eyes closed, I crossed it.
This is one of the beautiful things

about games in the palace—you can,
must, be half-asleep to play them.
As an example, "palace me" and you
have won. My heart gets fat in the trees.
.
My heart blows up the woods in the end.
The woods at the edge of the palace grounds
are brittle compared to spells I speak

from the palace wall, to end palace walls.