Westminster Bridge

“Westminster Bridge” by Eva Czarniecka

(Regarding the March 2017 terrorist attack)

 

 

under gaze of the lionheart

safe in bicameral shade

cast by lord and by commoner

here struck despicable acts

an irrational violence

consummate murder most foul

in the name of the nameless

a mind-twisted loving of hatred

that terrifies civilized men

broken bodies elicit our sorrow

while courage refortifies spirits

resolved to stand firmly erect

ever watchful on guard

against incomprehensible

new breeds of threat

with a stiff upper Londoner lip

taking oath to keep carrying on

Robin Hood

 

Book Illustration by Louis Rhead

 

if he lived but at all
in the free Lincoln green
no real idol or rogue
but some stature between

neither merry nor dour
with above average rate
as an archer with friends
and a sheriff to bait

more than likely a lad
who fell into the trawl
of peasantry hungry
for a hero in thrall

 

(originally posted January 2014)

The Somme

“Trenches” by Otto Dix

(Originally posted here February 2014)
 

coarse soliloquies silently
scraped at those thoughts
still alive in the trenches
regimental regalia lay muted
by phosgene and field guns
a million bones melted
down into the farmlands
of barbed wire watershed
wounded by tank treads
and howitzer wheels leaving
permanent scars and
perpetual echoes of thunder
in dreams of a continent
destined for more cataclysmic
ordeals modern legacies
fruiting political genes since
first seeded by clans in the
bronze age who realized
new tactical purpose
for murderous blades

Bremain or Brexit

“Abstract Europe No. 1” by Mikael B

a critical day
in the course of the west
will confederacy
of great cultures survive
the next sunrise
or fall from the weight
of this night
borders cast once again
with the vivid inimical
shadows of history

Mauve

“Essence of Mauve” from pinterest.com

evocative era

genteel decorum

Victorian hued

staid propriety

softened with roses

and palm fronds

a damask jacquard

state of mind

draped the eyes

keeping unmannered

glare of the noonday

from spoiling

rich dyed Persian rugs

splendid trophies

of commonwealth

meant for the

clean feet of conscience

Heart of Oak

“England’s Wooden Walls” by Tom Freeman

 

beneath massive yards

canvas billowed with empire

thirty thrones wide

seven seas torn by cannon

decks wounded by history

Tea Chest

 

“Reception of Mysorean Hostage Princes” by Robert Home

 

 

relic of the raj

piece of home

in an alien land

genteel reminder

of the mission

self-appointed

to civilize savage

motifs of a pagan

subcontinent

bring to it gifts

of a centralized

democracy tying

a noose round a

feudal archipelago

all in the interest

of primary goals to

commercialize via

monopoly vast

untapped resources

leaving behind a

three century

legacy still in debate

as to how much an

ancient admixture

of cultures was

either severely

demeaned or

enabled to stand

among moderns

politely discussing

the tides and the

times of the world as

they sit down to tea

 

 

From my books Onionskin and Legacies (vol. 2)

The Raj

British East India Company Ships
c. 1685
Image from britishempire.co.uk

bound from Bombay
for the overland east
across four thousand
years tolled by scripture
oaken crates holding
artifact specimens
Madras museums await
with a pride of defiance
outsmarting through
bold contravening
designs and devices
those black market
sly Raj factotums
the opium eaters
absconders of
provenant cultural art
temple talismans
ancient accoutrements
tending the birth
of a civilized orient
objects of reverence
in limn of deep time
rimed by winters
surviving the coldest
the bleakest of eras
when black-timbered
grasping incorporate
British East Indiamen
plundered hearts and
chewed limbs from
this fragrant sweet
sacred sub-continent

Chauvinist Echo

Henry the Eighth
Illustration by James A. Watkins
From hubpages.com

obey is an odd little word
that consternates modern ears
once featured in Anglican marrying vows
it’s fallen away through the years

it was jolly old Henry the eighth
put it into the mouths of Brit brides
it gave him excuse to lop off the heads
of his less than obedient wives

Bell

Lutine Bell Rostrum
At Lloyd’s of London
Photo from wikipedia.org

there was a time
every ship had a monogrammed voice
speaking hours and watches
supplanting circadium
ringing down duties
raw bodies indentured owed
underneath both moon and sun
toil timed to make most of skilled brawn
seeking optimum headway
through squalls and hostilities
eyes on the prize
trained by chimes that could penetrate
gunfire or storms
till the deeps had enough
of that unnatural noise
sending silencing waves
swamping over the gunwales
to swallow her whole and forever
saluted by one final peal
from the Lutine mahogany rostrum
in ritual London