Deposition From The Princess Marionette

it is easy to fulfill one's public duties

with the smile forever painted on your face

to dance and sing, to clap most pleasingly

when someone else pulls the strings of Grace

or else to lie desolate, unused

stored in the attic with the company props

never in charge of special ops

then its hard to find comfort in your one dress

of pink sateen your tinfoil crown

and yet, and yet when I consider how my light is bound still

I have gleaned  from on my own

even from collapsed positions in the wings

conversations under the stage set moonlit balconies.

mary angela douglas 23 october 2021