Cloning the emperor,
assuming the throne
knighted impostor,
unregally grown
With hell for a kingdom,
his scepter ignites
flames burning memory,
a mirror’s delight
The queen held for ransom,
a prince in his bed
jester on fire,
all subjects rebled
A rival approaches,
the bishop a swan
his guillotine royal
—beheaded in song
(Beaupre: November, 2021)
Where Pigs Fly
The magnitude of ignorance
staggers beyond
the scope of imagining,
a weakening throng
The danger of assumption,
its hard biting edge
empowers deception
shoved over the ledge
The vacuums of denial
we fight to defend
are lost in the moment
pushed out to the end
This emptiness we carry
and knowledge we fear
footnote our destruction
—as fools shed a tear
(Rosemont College: November, 2021)