no one is where I expect them to be

all my pieces have shifted.

My household moves in burst and stops

  two

    steps

       forward

      three

     steps

back

        four

           steps

            forward

           one

        step

  back

always moving but somehow standing still 

I am queen of nothing and no one

I am a servant only to the wind and

to the echoing chamber of my own heart 

if I stand still I will die

if I keep moving I will be devoured

everything and nothing

nibbling away bit by bit

until

nothing

is

left

my voice is raw as if I have been shouting

but I’ve been silent for hours