FOREIGN LANDS

The grit of the boot print
is seen in an unflattering
ultraviolet close-up, slightly
out of focus, a single cusp
zoomed-in on the satellite map.

Who but the prince
could lift the sword?
These stories are already suspect,
like thumb prints around
a throat that’s telling.

Who is the one who can name
names, who sent the princess
past the toll gate? Who can find
the edges of the earth and mark
it finished in the dark?

I guess the answer is,
who ever gets there first…