The Cheshire Queen

This is what it feels like to be unwanted. To haunt your own home while you are still alive.

The Cheshire Queen

When the devil dreams

Does he dance through fire

When a man speaks praise

Is he a liar

Do archers aim when skies are dark

Can I take back that last remark

Is remembrance waiting

If a child sees seven

If you forgive yourself

Can you still seek heaven

Is what is lost all that’s found

Can words bring air

To a soul who drowns

 

I catch the fish

That speaks the truth

I send out bottles

To capture youth

Presence makes an eager friend

Love is not what I pretend

 

Fair is myth and fortune folly

I cast off ivy and put on holly

The games I play dissolve into air

I am the queen of all that isn’t there

 

-Zoe Richardson (2020)

Reviews

[Neville]

I'm glad I trawled back here today, as I wanted to see where you were coming from & now confess, I was not in the least disappointed .. a compelling poem from one end to t'other .. Neville

[Zoe Richardson]

Thank you so much. Every time I start a new collection of poems, I choose one to be the flagship and this is the one I chose. I am so glad you trawled your way here. Don't be a stranger!

[Neville]

Neva fear Nev's nearly always not much more than a few clicks away .. Neville 😎👍

[William Michael Reeves]

Yes! Words are air to a poet! I really like this poem. I like the time travel thing of casting a bottle to the sea so in the future we can find the youth that set it free. Great poem!

[Zoe Richardson]

Thank you so much, kind sir. In all honesty, I wasn't thinking of time travel, but I see how that would fit these lines. I am glad you bring your own meaning and purpose to my words. That's why I write them!

[keith]

'I am the queen of all that isn’t there'
what a great adios

[Zoe Richardson]

Sometimes you feel yourself disappearing. You have to speak, to say something, create something that expresses the change and allows you to re-form. Or something like that. I'm glad you liked it. Stop by anytime!

[Einstein Noodle]

hmmm very enigmatic write says i ... i think the title suites the poem well ... jumping, or falling, down that rabbit hole can bring ... who knows what??
E.

[Zoe Richardson]

Like the Cheshire cat, all is not what it seems. It shifts and changes and rearranges itself. This was written during a time of flux.

[Einstein Noodle]

i can feel it in reading ;)

[Tina]

Interesting poem , you write well

[Carlos Lorenzo Estrada]

Wonderful poem, Zoe. It is deeply profound and captures the readers attention and thoughts. Thank you for sharing your work.

[Zoe Richardson]

Thank you so much! I appreciate you taking the time to read it and respond.