What the Queen Knows

Sometimes, I talk as if throwing darts at a board,
hoping some will hit target and score the prize
of a response from you.

Other times, I wrap myself in your silence,
its softness, its warmth, a blanket
sheltering me in wordless sympathy
and making me feel safe.

When I’m spilling confessions like milk,
you steadfastly refuse to cry over them.
And when I scream that the sky is falling in,
you do not even glance up.

Alice, you know what the queen knows:
only the unmoving can provide protection.

 

 

 

Adele Fraser lives and writes in Snowdonia. She has degrees in Literature and Philosophy. Her poems have been published by a number of magazines.