Photo by Steinar Engeland on Unsplash
On television, Lagertha spends most
of her time traveling from Viking town
to Viking town, from man to man,
plotting to stay alive. History tells us
she’s Queen of more than Kattegat,
which isn’t even a real place. She’s wife
of Ragnar Lodbrok, a man whose name
sounds like a Marvel movie starring
Chris Hemsworth as a superhot Thor.
In the film, evil slaughters the Valkyrie
but Brunnhilde the Asgardian survives
and becomes King when Thor abdicates
the throne. It’s nice when the script
offers options. Like when Black Panther
wants to crown Nakia Queen of Wakanda
and nearly chokes when she chooses
her job instead of him. I have options
too: Evacuate before Ragnarök hits, hope
there will be enough gas to last the trip. Or—
stockpile food and water, buy batteries
before the store sells out. Some women pray
the roof will hold; wait for the storm to turn.
Some women strike out on their own,
bolts of lightning from an unforgiving sky.
Marissa Glover lives in Florida, where she teaches at Saint Leo University and serves as co-editor of Orange Blossom Review and a senior editor at The Lascaux Review. Marissa’s full-length poetry collection, Let Go of the Hands You Hold, will be published by Mercer University Press in April 2021. You can follow Marissa on Twitter @_MarissaGlover_.