By Zekria Ibrahimi
(i)
The half-baked monarch! Two-faced thug!
He talks about his 'chivalry' -
The husband who bamboozles me -
His soul is that of a dark slug.
With just a sigh, a callous shrug,
With honourable hypocrisy,
He executes men, scare , unfree -
The feudal fiend, bloodthirsty, smug.
King Arthur! he parades his name,
Shows off all the sham of his fame;
Dwarfed by his ego, I then follow.
He swaggers at the tournaments,
Amidst the banners and the tents -
A merry monster, false and hollow.
(ii)
Excalibur, that 'noble sword,
The symbol of his manliness,
Is covered with a crimson mess,
Which he views as his warped reward -
This lunatic, my brazen lord...
As the gore dribbles on my dress,
And I conceal my distress,
He says I should be reassured -
He offers me the tainted steel,
Though the stench makes me almost reel,
A sinister gift for his lady.
After the slaughter comes a feast -
He is such a macabre beast,
A gangster really, grim and shady.
(iii)
He bites into some chicken legs,
And boasts abo0ut his latest battle -
Killing excites such puerile prattle -
He swallows wine down, to the dregs.
Meanwhile, the average peasant begs,
With not enough barley or cattle -
Who is merely the master's chattel.
A servant proffers some spiced eggs.
And I nibble at them, and groan.
"I faced the dogs who want my throne,
"And, in five minutes, ten were dead!"
War always brings a heap of taxes
That bury serfs. No-one relaxes.
The smiling Arthur looks well fed...
(iv)
Across teh table, smiles a knight -
Who looks as if he is the stars.
My bedroom ought to have massed bars;
Arthurs embrace is no delight,
But dark imprisonment by spite.
These bragging men, vassals of Mars,
That mad god who gives them their scars,
They are chained by their wish to fight,
locked up in a desire for war.
The knight is staring at me more.
"My lady, I am Lancelot,"
He whispers. "Meet me in the garden."
Around me, Arthur's fetters harden.
I nod, and want my king to rot...
(v)
Round us, roses, in constellations -
Some dizzy scarlet, some brash yellow -
The knight's kiss seems to be so mellow,
After my anguish and frustrations -
Arthur is a thousand damnations -
An insincere, blustering fellow,
With a disgustingly loud bellow -
Used to making phony orations.
Yet Lancelot's murmurs seem sweet,
And he puts flowers at my feet,
And his hands wander round my breast.
This kingdom needs a revolution,
He claims, and love is the solution -
Love, he declares, is always best.
(vi)
This Camelot is built on hate -
There is one crazy ceaseless law -
The urge of the brute towards war.
The callous towers of our state,
The cold moat, the huge iron gate,
The castle with turrets that soar,
Echoing drums and trumpet's roar,
Depends on murder. But, our fate,
The knight says, can instead be peace -
Is ours a barnyard, with its geese,
Its pigs, its cows, that cannot think,
All meant for Arthur's abattoir?
And I let Lancelot roam far,
To love's dangerous, delicious brink...
(vii)
To the banquet, I then go back -
And Merlin, that religious fake,
The druid who is such a snake,
Now shows off his clauirvoyant's knack -
And his prediction - siege and sack!
"Your wife will make the Kingdom break!
"Camelot may die for love's sake..."
The grizzled, preaching maniac -
He cruelly ladles out the gloom,
Tales of tragedy and tomb,
And makes me not a queen, but who-re.
Then Merlin leaves, and Arthur is grim.
I say, "My lord, why talk with him?
"His rant is nonsense to ignore..."
(viii)
The king can never match the knight
In the turmoil of love's chess game.
I have, perhaps, a trace of shame
That puts a taint on my delight.
But how is love a smear, a blight?
I rather would be sick and lame
Than not know my knight's gentle name -
I am warped, crushed by Arthur's might,
Made into a mere crippled pawn,
Someone destroyed by royal scorn -
I cannot move; I am hemmed in
By the rules of the Court and State,
Cringe while Arthur's boasts resonate,
A broken, caged bitch. Let me sin!
Or, Sir's Sold Short
Or, Joust A Little Harmless Fun
By DJ Tyrer
But, today, things were looking bright...
Old and blind, with a dicky heart, it had been unable to petrify (except through fear!) and had keeled over when he yelped in fright!
Once again he was a hero!
ENDS
