"If You Can Keep Your Head..." ~ Sunday, 3 May 2020

You lost it after we stormed the Bastille, 

on your shoulders for a short while before 

under the weight of force, your neck caved in, 

lifeless, you kept your head, tongue lolling out 

of your mouth, helpless to gain composure, 

snuffed out swifter than a candle by hand, 

take a moment, look back on your brief life, 

if you feel like God turned his back on you, 

take a moment to breathe before the blade 

asks if you want the back of your neck shaved, 

for goodness sake, you must look au courant, 

the Queen's Ball was cancelled, she lost her head, 

edgy, everyone is a bit edgy, 

running away from the revolution, 

wicked, wicked people with no patience, 

everyone knows their head must be removed, 

still, what we could not do for each other 

the street urchins decided for themselves, 

order from above keeps royalty rich, 

riches do not pay for the poor to eat, 

muster the courage not to soil yourself, 

even death requires a small token of 

dignity, something you lack as well as 

the bravery it takes to face the blade, 

hovering above, what you cannot see, 

even to hear, and it is all over, 

Brilliant Brielle, if you can keep your head, 

alas, that is not the case, much like cake, 

still, you had a good life, if you can call 

taking money from the poor a good life, 

it paid for your time abroad in England, 

lo and behold, if only you had stayed, 

little did anyone care in London, 

everyone there were aghast at the news.