Chitra Ganesh, How to Assemble a Flying Car (detail), 2018, linocut on tan BFK Rives. Courtesy of the artist & Durham Press.
Man in a Ruff
in the court of Elizabeth I
A lapis stud.
Pierced through the lobe of one shapely ear, the other cupped
by an oiled
curl.
Eyes filmy as dew on glass, brimming edge
of a glaucous sea—
Man in a ruff.
In promenade
with other plattered heads, jeweled and coiffed—
How they want to loosen
the flesh
tether
in this moment
of inventing so much: new stars and countries, the toothed
wheel—
Man
offering his perfumed
capital
to the glint in her gun-colored eye—
What will she deem him.
Queen
whitened with lead—
He is Wounded Dog.
Cannot Lick His Thigh.
Dana Levin is the author of three books with Copper Canyon Press: In the Surgical Theatre, Wedding Day, and Sky Burial, which was noted for 2011 year-end honors by The New Yorker, The San Francisco Chronicle, Library Journal, and Coldfront. A recipient of fellowships from the Rona Jaffe, Whiting, and Guggenheim Foundations, Levin chairs the Creative Writing and Literature Department at Santa Fe University of Art and Design. Her poetry and essays have appeared in many anthologies and magazines, including The American Poetry Review, AGNI, Poetry, and The Paris Review. She is a contributing editor of AGNI. (updated 4/2013)