Less Than

Scant they said
As you filled them with bursts of light
Covered them all with the confident glow of buckshot
Frozen on a frosty beach of pure white
Perhaps the shadow of a beachball
To mark the time

Miss Trailercoach
Hailing from Edison
And Pennsylvania before that
What would the world have been
Had not the graces pulled you down
The magnetized needles aligned with the oracles
The universe needed the bikini
And you gave it to them
Never the same one
An arsenal of rockets and bombers
Sewn carefully into cups
Tied in the back
Perfect and pristine
Without judgement

Then, Cheesecake
The world caught up
Like you knew they could
Shallow divers and panting sprinters
With dollars in their cartoon eyes
Wolves with crooked smiles
And trap door teeth
So you receded slightly
Like the patient sea, your kin
A good first playmate
We will never forget
Jamaica, 1962
And most of 1954
And 1955

Perhaps our paths crossed
Getting a cheap bistek on Dixie
Or a rowdy night with glow sticks
Me not knowing
But guessing
You were some kind of Queen
Your realm not inherited; but seized
Then praised, honored, adored
Miss Personality
Orchid Queen


Linnea Eleanor Yeager