QUEEN ANNE

QUEEN ANNE
"To Vex my king, to vex me"
his breath
reeks in cheap ale
on her neck!
It's strawberry moon.
Doom and gloom!

"O fair Anne, be mine t'night
Loosen your chastity belt.
For I will anoint you
As my Queen.
O fair Anne,
I will make a wife of you
Loosen your chastity belt."
Serenaded her, The Tudor King!

She wears a gown,
White as a dove
For she will be Lord's bride
By this noon.
Rings around her dark eyes are
Blooming. Noir
Like her tragic end.

Henry and his court
passed the sentence
"Fair Anne, chaste Anne!"
She is no more!
The new Anne: 
A filthy whore.
Guilty of incest.
Seducing her brother 
For her own means.
A boy she needs for the thorne
to satisfy ambitions.

She closes her eyes
and dreams of France
Her first and truest love.
It is the language she 
misses the most.
Laced with passion and melody.
And the elegant gowns
Lazy afternoons 
in fine towns.

Dreams and conjurings
will be no more
by the dusk
For a gal needs a head 
over her shoulders 
For such deeds.

She opens her eyes:
Her ears are bleeding:
the same axeman 
uttering acid words.

She curses the day
she set foot on Henry's shore
The day her eyes met the King's.

To Vex my King, to vex me.
Words like bullets
spring out of
the axeman's mouth
Rotten teeth, foul breath.
"Grant me peace
in my final hour
Leave me be.
Let me pray 
my final prayer
For our lord
who is just and good!"
She pleads with him.
He clings on her hem
Yet
Still
More.

She closes her eyes
breathing deeply.
The axeman's feet
pressing on her hem.
She dreams of her flame haired tot.
So full of life
So full of fun
Soon be orphaned:
A child without a mum.

The chains are pricking
her wrists
Red blooms on her white sleeves
She says her final prayer.
"Take me to my end
For I am ready!"
Her voice is thin
surrendering.
The Axeman leads 
Anne to the guillotine.