Queen Anne

Queen Anne

Walking to position
Head held high
Conscious yet uncaring
Observes the sky
Booming blood in eardrums
I will not cry
Maintaining decorum
Until I die

Suddenly a silence
A few last words
Missing but unnoticed
The sound of birds
Tears silently welling
Eyesight blurred
Meanwhile in an alley
Stray cat purred

Kneeling, head extended
Neck to block
Cold to touch yet clammy
Wrists in lock
Surely only moments
Since the dock
Movements in slow motion
Mind in shock

Executioner poised waiting
He merely serves
Back swing needle in the arc
Axe tip curves
Anne hoping for a true strike
No hors' douvres
Strike true axe man
Bone sinew nerve