is visited by—dragonflies—
sees—through—their stained-glass wings—
makes common cause with aconite
and—shy—about her fangs—
draws by the curtain—of her lip—
to keep the—crowd—at bay—
and never howls—until the moon
has coin enough to buy—
Evie Shockley is the author of several collections of poetry, including the new black, winner of the 2012 Hurston/Wright Legacy Award, and semiautomatic, winner of the 2018 Hurston/Wright Legacy Award and finalist for the LA Times Book Prize and the Pulitzer Prize. Her scholarship and poetry have been supported by fellowships from such institutions as the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study, the ACLS, the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, the Millay Colony for the Arts, and MacDowell. She is Professor of English at Rutgers University, New Brunswick.