Monday, April 03, 2006

This one was more of a struggle, but I wrote a couple on Sunday, so maybe I'll use them as back up later, if needed.

Comments welcome!

A Few Facts About Queens
.
A Queen Doesn’t Know How to Handle Herself
.
something about Queen Elizabeth wouldn’t sit still
the doctors who were barbers on their days off
prescribed leeches for the boiling of her blood
seeing how she would do anything to get rid of it
including flying from the roof of the cathedral
and walking along the bottom of the river
stones sewn into her hems
.
A Queen Is Often Contagious
.
the merchants found Queen Isabel’s teeth and hair useful
all parts could be sold and re-used except her bones
which chattered like sparrows and her fat
which when made into an ointment caused
the user to break out in flower-shaped sores
.
A Queen Gets Lost in Her Dreams
.
the astronomers discovered
all they could do with Queen Margaret was herd her
into a pen and make her pretend she was a horse
hanging or burning only made her more morose and mystical
until whole villages in Wales dreaded her visits
the way she would silently weep her silk skirts
up over her face how she would nod into a dream
and then shout predictions about men the color of seals
emerging from the sea to steal their pork
.
A Queen’s Wrists are too Small to Carry a Sword
.
an army of short men led by Queen Mary marched over Europe
eventually the Queen was distracted as Queens often are
by a strange set of velvet skirts in the shop window
when her back was turned she was set upon by crows
who lifted her far into the sun until she became
a lacey star of ashes
her blood boiled away she finally felt peace

2 comments:

Mathias Svalina said...

Very cool, I like the queen/saint/superhero/ghost crossovers

Christine E. Hamm, Poet Professor Painter said...

Thank you, Mathias and SB! Compliments are helpful, at least to my ego.