WHEN TO WEAR A TIARA
above a black cotton mask
while assembling a model guillotine
with prehistoric tigerskin coat
amethyst chunks wired into a glittering landslide
looking for a child among the lost children
a lattice of eyes
in the ashes of the house
while rowing over a drowned city
Martha McCollough is the author of Wolf Hat Iron Shoes (Lily Poetry Review Books 2022) and the chapbook Grandmother Mountain (Blue Lyra 2019). Her poems have appeared or are forthcoming in Qwerty, The Bear Review, Radar Poetry, and Tampa Review, among others. She lives in Amherst, MA.