Dorothy as Madwoman by Meggie Royer

Dorothy as Madwoman

After the tornado, you sink.
Half the house gone, the other still present
but somehow missing.
Piano twice-drowned in the corner,
& every key
hums dust.
You’ll let your hair grow long again,
let it grey & tendril,
follow the beaches
& their trailing wreckage along the shore
seagulls battering your back
like lovers.

by Meggie Royer

Editor’s Note: An imaginative retelling of a familiar story serves as the framework for this poem. The description of madness is both delicate and regretful.