1673 c/o JDA Winslow

Mary Carleton and You

Mary Carleton
is lying
to a European lord
(she stole his money and left him).

She shaves off her hair
flies to Thailand
changes sex
then goes to sleep
(surrounded by stolen jewels
and gold
like the gender confused dragon
she/he always was)

Frozen
in an iceberg
moored
off the northernmost
of the Rykuku islands
she drifts free.

300 years later
the iceberg melts
the gold
drags her down
he drowns
and I feel glad
as the water fills my lungs
and sorry
that I stole
that necklace from you.