your majesty

by Shaylynn Marks

In cuffs at the ole Eastern regional jail,

Along the panhandle of Wild and Wonderful West Virginia.

After mugshots, fingerprints, I’m advised to wait,

For the great and powerful Magistrate of Martinsburg, WV.

Only a cuck would crave to observe me blow

In the fucking Oz of Berkeley County, West Virginia.

If I bat my eyes, will he send me home?

He approaches, the final boss of West Virginia.

A blurred face, but he adorns a white Victorian wig,

Curled and gorgeous on his West Virginian potato head.

Arms lifted, he commands, “Have Miss Marks blow.”

In that deep, Appalachian twang—native to West Virginia.

I said, “of course, your majesty” with a wink

And a curtsy, I blew the little Jail in West Virginia down.

Photo fo Shaylynn Marks

BIO: Shaylynn Marks is a current Poetry MFA student at Hood College. Her prose, non-fiction, and poetry has been published internationally through several journals, including: Far Out Magazine, In Parentheses Literary Magazine, and Washington Writers' Publishing House. She was nominated as 2023 Runner-up for Poet of the Year with Poetic Anarchy Press and won 2025 Sass Magazine Readers Choice Award for Best Local Author. Check out all her published work on shaylynnmarks.com.