QE II is the Ocean Liner

Marvyne Jenoff
From:   Crackerjack Umbrella. Twoffish Press, 2008.

Dear Queen Elizabeth,
Your Majesty,
I found a pencil sharpener that belongs to you
with E II R under a little crown stamped on it.

I picked it out from other pencil sharpeners not yours,
stamped QE II
(how clever and non-American of me
to know the difference)
in the Toronto Reference Library lost-and-found,
not the library of the QE II,
where, I understand, they give out pencil sharpeners
rather than baseball caps or magnets.

Dear Magnate Queen,
I want you to know how happy I am to have
from among all the riches in the world
this pencil sharpener,
which I�d also be happy to return to you
if only you�d say the word.

Then I'd have a word from you
or else this pencil sharpener stamped E II R
under a little crown, either way
one step a little closer to the riches of the world.

Poem 1 | Poem 2 | Poem 3 | Poem 4 | Poem 5 | Poem 6 | Poem 7 | Poem 8 | Poem 9 | Poem 10

Marvyne Jenoff's works copyright © to the author.