barbara foster schutz - MS.

He spread his importance
like a princely cape
across her path,
intended she should notice
how, for her, he
dragged the ermine edges
through the dust.
In sunlit majesty
he offered up
the freedom of his kingdom,
the protection of his crown,
and with his sword
he circumscribed
the bounds.
Bewildered, then, he watched
as she hiked up her royal skirts
and turned away
to mark a trail
through woods
where dragons sleep.

August,1975

barbara foster schutz

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