Daniel Galef

Fabergé to Nicholas

The last completed Fabergé Egg was delivered during the Revolution to an empty palace. Unsure how to address an ex-sovereign, instead of “Tsar of All the Russians” the jeweller Fabergé addressed the bill simply to “Mr. Romanov.”

Dear

Mr. Romanov

(I can’t say “Tsar”),

Please find, enclosed, your Egg—

invoice attached. I hope this last creation

is well-matched to add to your collection.

Every star is a cut diamond, set in heavens hatched

on crystal black as sturgeon caviar, the craftsmanship superb;

no seam or scar betrays the labor (invoice is attached). Apologies

if this last bill has rambled; address and protocol have got so…

sticky. Your power has been poached; your Empire, scrambled;

Now should I call you “Comrade”? Or just “Nicky”?

Us, Nick, we both are fragments of something lost—

Now shells litter the streets (as for the cost,

you’ll find my detailed invoice here attached).

I wonder just what is it that has

hatched?

Daniel Galef's first book, Imaginary Sonnets, collects 70 persona poems from the point of view of various historical figures and mythological characters, including Lucrezia Borgia, Wernher von Braun, and a new brand of breakfast taco. His poetry has appeared in The Lyric, Able Muse, and Scientific American.