Wednesday's Verse - In All Her Finery, the Queen

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This week’s verse moves from a fantasy poem about loss and revenge to a fantasy poem about a ghostly queen. It is taken from 366 Days of Poetry, a collection of mixed-genre poetry released in 2018.

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In All Her Finery, the Queen


In all her finery, the queen

floats above the marbled floor,

floats above the blood that stains

in a slowly spreading flood.



In all her finery, the queen

lies in dishevelled disarray,

her trust betrayed, violated,

murdered on her wedding day.



In all her finery, the queen

floats above the marbled floor,

takes herself through the thrice-barred door,

into the hallway to her rooms.



In all her finery, the queen

lies in dishevelled disarray,

her gown and petticoats sliced and torn

by the beast that took her husband’s place.



In all her finery, the queen

floats along deserted halls,

seeks to find her lord the king

to save him in his revelling,

drifts through his private chamber’s door

in time to see him fill the creature’s paw

with gold, as it stoops to lick his booted feet,

bound to his service in secrets deep.



She screams.



Her voice becomes a banshee’s wail,

the gifted dead from her side hail.

Her scream’s enough to wake the dead,

to slay the living in the chamber shared

by loyal wife and conniving man,

who breached the holy wedding bans,

who broke his vows ’ere they were made,

who with beasts consorted and demons laid,

and who was sought in loyal trust,

by the one whose life had paid the truce of lust,

that brought power to his hand,

the service of foul creatures banned,

by mortal law and holy pact.



In all her finery, torn, betrayed,

the queen rises to her place this day,

slays her king, the assassin paid,

then slowly drifts away.



And on the anniversary, of this day of besmirched joy,

they say the queen floats softly by,

patrols her palace halls til night

gives way to the newly birth-ed day,

when gently she fades, just fades away.

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You can find the first two poetry collections at the links below - although there are plans to reissue them with more genre-appropriate covers in the future. The third collection will be released later in the year.


Location: Canberra ACT 2601, Australia

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