Last Words With Her Executioner
(jeanne d'arc)
How did you silence my voice?
I raised it to the king,
who stopped it with his laughter.
I signed it to the deaf,
who had nothing but smiles for you.
What happened to my hands?
I wrapped them in rope
behind your back.
I broke them in surrender.
What became of my eyes?
I lifted them to princes
to wear as jewels in crowns.
I covered them with my sins,
ornaments in my palms.
How did you care for my wounds?
I healed them with my sword.
I bound them in the name of war.
What did you do with my tears?
I raked them to your stake.
I drank them as your guilt.
Where did you place my bones?
On a scaffold in the streets,
cobbled dirt of France's feet.
How do you remember me?
As a woman singled out.
A woman with the body
of a tender boy,
a bell tolling round her neck,
flames spurring to her waist.
To whom did you give my love?
I passed it among your generals,
who wear it as their cause.
I pinned it lonely to my heart.
What did you do with my soul?
I scattered it among rosemary
to grow from the courage of hurt.
Who follows me now?
A name that will not die.
We: other women beside you.
Copyright Maureen E. Doallas. All Rights Reserved.
This...
ReplyDelete"I pinned it lonely to my heart."
And the way this poem moves, urges. Something about it so poignant. A beauty, pain laced.
I stumbled upon your site by what I'm coming to call a "divine accident." I was very touched by your poetry, and also by your thoughts on the "gang bangers." That was shocking and heart-breaking and I agree: something should be done.
ReplyDeleteAlso, I ran across something you'd written on another post somewhere and thought I may have occasion to quote it. It sounded so appropriate for inclusion in a book which I'm completing" God's Comeback Kids. May I use what you said: . . . To "be lost" and then "come home" is the most profound experience we can hope for.
OCTOBER 26, 2009 6:39 AM
L.L., As always, I appreciate when you read and comment, given my delight in your own wonderful words.
ReplyDeleteDon, thank you for your kind comments. I hope you will follow my blog regularly. Your book sounds very interesting; I'd like to know more. I'm ok with your request. I have to admit I remember my words but not where I posted them, now that I leave comments on so many other writers' blogs.