O to be king
to cast off this heavy garden of petticoats
to wear a sword in my belt
its hilt twined with roses
its blade milk-white
As I run
thistles trail behind me through the grass
I live in a castle on a cloud
my hair reaches to the ground
like an autumn beanstalk
O to cut myself loose
like a ship from its moorings
and leap through the window
through cloud and cloud
and land on my feet like a cat
I am a tomcat without whiskers
I am a king wearing someone else’s crown
O to be true
My laugh is girlish
my body belongs to the moon my mother
but my heart is a king’s heart
and my eye is a tiger’s eye
and my stride is rakish
and my breast is gallant
O for a friend to make the adventure merrier
O for a damsel to save
I would let her fall into my arms
if she would let me be her Don Quixote
her knight without a name
her cavalier without a cock