Under Cloak and Crown

Flowering tree buds on the hillside

hide from darkness’ hand of slight,

Except in the palms extending out 

Of the night queen’s kind moonlight. 

Bare bark rejuvenated, 

Stargazing upon its mended vine 

Breathing deep in auburn shine,

A blood moon in its prime. 

Orion’s spine combines 

with the outline of her mind, 

Coronated beyond any crown, 

Raised from the cloak of smoke,

palms resting upon the ground. 

What lays beyond that veil?

Stars stitched in and sewn

upon its creases and folds. 

Outside the queen’s embrace, 

a universe left unknown. 

Michael Carney