Blackbirdan online journal of literature and the artsSpring 2011 v10n1
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DAVID KEPLINGER

At Hald Hovedgaard Estate

1885
Queens in the mound
are covered in moss; kings
sleep only in bronze, and gold.

So it is discovered when the mound
is dug up, using shovels and picks
and the flash of yellow sepia.

In the photograph the swimmers
watch in bloomers and high-fitting trunks,
drinking wine from flutes and talking.

The one named Asa (it says on the caption),
who is not from this country, falls backwards
in the water, and as she does,

her hair fans out into a brown corona.


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