Beneath a Metal Sky

Incognito, royalty (in purple shoes
a princess had bestowed some years ago)
decided she was overdue for exercise,
emerging from her modest chariot
to climb the bridge alone.
Beneath a metal sky that turned the water
far beneath a lovely shade of green,
infused with salt and light.
with oxygen and sun, she smiled
at others walking past and even caught
the eye of someone in a truck
who couldn't guess the woman
in the baseball cap had left her crown
at home. Her muscles spoke convincingly
that she should do this very thing
more frequently -- why had it been so long?
Let others walk in circles,
one more time around the mountain,
thought the queen. I'd rather walk
a bridge and back , and smell the fishy breeze.
I'd rather feel the pounding of my heart
while walking in my purple shoes 
beneath a metal sky.



(c) Ellen Gillette, 2016