Katherine Howard's Reason
Treason is the gate they've built
And locked behind me;
The clergy and the court
Conspiring to make my life before this marriage
Creep into the King's brain,
Mould his head against mine.
They think I'm stupid,
Uneducated save for the blunt routine
Of my religion.
They picture me seduced like a farm girl,
The scent of nature
So firmly wedged in her nostrils
That she ends up in the hay, undone.It's me who sees their politics,
Not the king.
They drive him from the Pope
And my head must be another wedge
To power it.
Past loves and promises
Are re-kindled into lies of flaming injury;
Since my wedding day
I have only done my duty.
And for a time
I even made a tired man a little healthier
Before they surely poison him with Kingdom.No other wish but his
Was my motto of betrothal.
If this is his wish, then so it's mine;
But as the axe falls
I'll purse my lips
To kiss the bottom of the basket
And forgive the King
Who knows not what's been done
To him or me;
He knows not what he's done.
Copyright Bare Nibs 2004