'Queen of the Cow Palace', by Maya Stahler
I’m an opal
tied up hot
cruciform dairy
princess gingham
gingham rose
funny eyes
It’s me, Sybil
the rodeo queen
And I love canned
vegetables, ice cream
my quarter roan
Beautiful Binky
drinks her super soda
sweet from a bucket
My shiner pussyfoot
gopher ground gourds
Goodnight, my brunette!
in my love
drug sailor top
I sleep on the ground
worms in my perm
When I die
imma be model
on a Coca Cola bottle!
Oh, I’m Sybil
I squat low in my wranglers
swig back sun tea
my sweet Binky
shavings corona my teeth
I line up my mare locks
plaits with flowers
plaits dipped in my monthly
plaits sapphire with a show ribbon
in the basement
I get told to go
practice my choreography
shiner shiner
nobody calls it an axe
when I swing it
into the cement
Maya Stahler is a poet from Oregon who is currently an MFA candidate at the Iowa Writers' Workshop. Her most recent work appears/is forthcoming in Longleaf Review, Squawk Back, Diagram, and elsewhere.