During my Reign
Joshua Daniel Edwin
I balanced the palace like a grape in my palm.
I kept hounds and lions chained to my raised
and valanced bed – what use had I for fear.
The golden honeybee, my heraldic charge,
graced my nightgown, which I wore all day
whenever I saw fit. Traveling, I perched in a violet
velvet-lined sedan, securely belted, my passing
grumps and hungers palliated with fresh apples,
the finest grains and cereals, all bagged and dusted
with ground cinnamon, which was kept close at hand.
Do you understand? I was the genius of this shore,
the whole ‘spanse of sea-blue carpet, from the sofa
to the small boudoir. I was the lone taproot to the verve
that kept this great house thrumming: the piety
of parents and child. Now children. Now divided.
Joshua Daniel Edwin studied poetry and literary translation at Columbia University. His poetry haunts the internet courtesy of The Adirondack Review, Avatar Review, and Feathertale. His translations of Dagmara Kraus' poetry have appeared or are forthcoming with Asymptote, no man's land, Argos Books and Anomalous Press and were awarded a PEN Translation Fund grant in 2012. He is a member of the editorial board for the magazine Circumference: Poetry in Translation, which you can visit at circumferencemag.com.
