Subject to a bygone
majesty, the blood born
in Lancashire twelve
generations back
wants to hear the bells toll,
wants to line the somber
roads of slow procession,
pay homage to the
oak coffin draped in
the Royal Standard,
occupy this mute
ancestral grief with
reverence, with respect
gone from these brazen,
broken Colonies,
wants to bend
my rebellious knee,
bow my proud head;
leave lilies of the valley,
their tiny white bells
delicate, fragrant, ringing
for her regnal ear.
Photograph of Queen Elizabeth II’s coffin traveling from Balmoral along Scottish roads: AFP/Paul Ellis. The Queen’s body will remain in Edinburgh until Tuesday, then lie in state in London before her September 19 funeral. Lilies of the valley were her favorite flower; they were featured in her coronation bouquet and grow at Buckingham Palace.
Meditatio Ephemera 
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Thank you.
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Devotional and lovely poem, Cate 💖
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Thank you, Anita!
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Pleasure Cate.
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nice poem.
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Thank you.
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Very nicely done, and appropriate, Cate. A book could be written based on this line alone: ” … with respect gone from these brazen, broken Colonies.” -Russ
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Thanks, Russ; I’ve been surprised at how the Queen’s passing moves me. Her rare example of keeping over many decades a difficult promise — a pledge to public service made at the callow age of 21 — and her long, steadfast presence in so many of our lives makes her loss singular.
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