as if memory can be pulled

like the root of a broken tooth.

Coronis was an ancient beauty

a subject of Apollo’s wrath

 

punished with a plague.

 

Tear a page from Ovid,

the poems fall apart.

 

Elisabeth’s throne is for ceremony.

People respect the Crown.

 

Mexico’s culture is deep.

The world should drink its beer.

 

“Covert” “coven” and “covet,”

words that might trigger

 

but

 

Its agony, unspeakable

Its courage, beyond

 

let Corona stay in Queens.