The Guillotine
written by: Jackie Chou
You walk like a queen
with downcast eyes
dictating my life
my death–
you’d like to place
a pillory around my neck
drag me to the guillotine
like a medieval prisoner
I’ve committed
the most unforgivable crime
in your eyes–
by being alive
when you’d like to squash me
like an insect under your sole
I’d like to free myself
from your collar of shame
I’m no criminal
and you’re no monarch
I have every right to breathe
the air you breathe
in this land of liberty
Jackie Chou is a poet of free verses and Japanese short form poetry who has work forthcoming in Mollyhouse Lit and Cyan: an Anthology of Confessional Poetry. Her poem "Cycle of a Tree" was nominated for a Pushcart by Highland Park Poetry.
