alittlepoison

whispers through weeping willows
creeping through the canopy
prince victor was sick on the delicate foliage
the forest surrounding enabled swift passage

waiting past late
princess kate walked away
tears a’flowing down her bridal wear
blood affecting her gait
her bouquet
it comprised of eight hundred promises
all of them broken
no sooner than spoken
as kin with all kinsman abandoned the bridge

stumbling upon a clearing
princess kate finds she’s listening
to victor’s thin breathing
her brother lay heaving
his mind on a plate

nephew nathan caressed hatred
with a subtlety compounded
the shrieking still perverted his sleeping
the floor of the forest insulted his family tree
his dreaming encompassed a universe
without me

he woke with a start
no breakfast was ready
but only a platter of potentially poisonous branches and berries
and a taste in the mouth of an absence of empathy
my uncle was king but it don’t mean a thing
the absence of tutelage diminished his tongue
and the absence of home left him shivering and cold
the reality of life on the run

the man wasn’t brave
but his nails scratched a chalkboard
and a hoard is so easily led to a strangers grave
six feet down
in chalk on the board
followed by algebra
the children were bored
when the tutor tried teaching the subject they needed
much later
alone
on the road

victor’s textbook was ruled and persuaded with glee
by the tutor who briefly sold lessons to me
lessons in alchemy

now listen to this:
court jesters are jaded
advisors frequently disliked and executed with the slight loss of favour
however
the laughing magician stays clean and stands clear of the fears that lie in between
love
care
affection
hope
and jealousy

kate buried her brother at the stump of a tree
collecting his flesh in her hands smelt like agony
was it wrong to make love to a husband so brotherly?

the answer
it lies at the mouth of a cave
where she parted her thighs and she wept at his grave
and she wept a lament for the child he sent from the dead
to her belly:
royalty saved

the child was born
summer lightning in his eyes
never wailed a whisper despite
willows weeping
despite

nathan was angry with who was pursuing
cryptic in distance
in numbers
and motive
every deck of cards has a million suprises
nathan’s ears and eye were always waiting
for the laughter he heard
as his cousin was wed to familial features
and his bet fell apart on the roll of the dice
and the ring of the bell as it sounded and signalled
the death of the king
the end of the night
the sorrow it brings
the start of the fight
the dignity subtly stolen from youth
the sky’s dying blue
the whistling tune
the hot accusation and absence of proof

but who rules the city?
the slumbering, desperate, diseased population?
a girl in the woods?
be not mistaken
it is i
the closest advisor
the laughing magician
under the docks where the waves gently lap
i’m holding the faith of a nation