Regicides
1.
To kill the young Queen an expert executioner
had been imported from a region
famous for its hard cheese those great wheels
he could cut in half with one fabulous stroke.
On this occasion he must have been
gravely distracted when as he swung
the blade overhead she began to sing
in a lilting contralto a country song
about the Spring. so he had to hit
the spot on her neck that a lace collar
would have hidden a series of times.
And even after the body and head
flew apart as her soul flew
to heaven, they said she still sang.
They had to wait several gruesome hours
standing in the straw before the song stopped.
And no one listening could ever remove
the melody that played within their minds.
2.
As the barge floated past the castle
the tower guards saluted the monarch
who sat at ease listening to horns
and drums play some soothing tunes.
As a mark of their respect
the military fired a cannon volley.
But the angle used to compute
the trajectory was off, just a bit.
The iron shot decapitated the king
and blew a hole into the royal vessel.
The last thing those along the banks
saw was the rampant lion
on the regal banner pawing the air
as the boat sank and it appeared
the crowned beast was attempting to swim.
3.
The emperor’s only nephew who had grown old and fat
no longer the golden prince who turned heads
and won the peasants’ hearts felt the first bullet
cut to shreds the bird-of-paradise plume
on his cocked hat and barely noticed
the tumbling lead pellet that struck him
just above the Order of Merit bestowed after a war,
perhaps a victory. It was not a fatal
wound they discovered but the palace surgeons
insisted the fractured bullet must be removed.
Week after week they picked at the spot
until infection took over their task,
and the ancient House came to an abrupt end.
© Royal Rhodes
Royal Rhodes is a poet and retired educator who lives in rural Ohio. His poems have appeared in numerous literary journals in the U.S., the U.K., and Canada. He has twice been nominated for the Pushcart Prize.
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