I no longer watch for he
Who claimed to
Watch over me.
Queens don’t have
Enough hours in their
days—
and the nights have too many.
In the absence of
A King, there is the always
the waiting—
waiting for him
on wings or stallion
or slow moving steed
to come to look up,
Seeing you beautiful
and pristine, preserved
in the tower by which
the love you gave to him
imprisons you—
for belonging to one
blind in one eye,
chasing the cares of
the world, with
your heart
in his back pocket.
see that you
were waiting
the whole time
Through tide and sunset
and moonlight
you waited and waited
because queens’ days
have not enough hours
in their days
and their nights
have too many.
In the waiting, you age.
You want.
You break silently.
Dying cut by cut.
Dying by unanswered messages,
missed calls,
cancelled visits and
always the promise of
together will happen
through the lips that lie
and still say trust me
because queens have not
Enough hours in their days
and their nights
have too many.
I have taken myself
from the window,
away from the
Widows walk…
I no longer wait
on the sun neither
do I cry or the moon
and her beams
To comfort me.
I’m alone now.
building my own kingdom
because queens don’t have
Enough hours in their days
and their nights have too many.
In order to rule,
I must master myself first.
My soul was never in his pocket
Truth and love
Never marrying
To the peace
Granted through
Commitment, wedded
Through time and space
my heart was never his
so my love was always mine
-JBHarris, May 2021
I Breathe Fire 