When We Were the Queen

We were next level.
We reversed decrees.
We skewered the press.
We bejeweled the deer
then let them be pets.

Wherever we went,
we sexted shepherds.
We hedged the best bets.
We pretended well
when we felt regret.

Were there experts? Yes,
they were rejected.
Between TV screens,
we helter-skeltered.
We deleted scenes.

Were messes left? Yes.
We egged the temple
then yelled, “WE’VE BEEN EGGED!”
News crews descended.
“Let’s help me,” we begged.

Caki Wilkinson

Caki Wilkinson

Caki Wilkinson is the author of the poetry collections Circles Where the Head Should Be (2011) and The Wynona Stone Poems (2015). Recent work has appeared in The New Yorker, the Nation, and Kenyon Review, and her third collection, The Survival Expo, will be published in 2021. She lives in Memphis, TN.
Caki Wilkinson

Author: Caki Wilkinson

Caki Wilkinson is the author of the poetry collections Circles Where the Head Should Be (2011) and The Wynona Stone Poems (2015). Recent work has appeared in The New Yorker, the Nation, and Kenyon Review, and her third collection, The Survival Expo, will be published in 2021. She lives in Memphis, TN.