the telescope ring (draft)

  her ring was a telescope to
disguise her wandering eye
from the start
scopes out new lands to conquer
      welcoming colonists into occupied land

 she wraps her love in a blanket
 i’ll keep you safe, she says
as the malaria
slowly kills this poor girl
 she looks at me smugly
 marching her in a trail of tears
 evicting her from her own home
she buries her in the garden
and asks who planted these gardens of chaos

she carefully stitches me together with her steady hands
and welcomes me home into occupied land
collapses her telescope back on her hand

 she builds her love atop an indian burial ground
and wonders why it’s haunted