With lantern strung high on a pike
I searched for an Empress of poetic might

Whose symphonic verse
Both elongated and terse

Would meld all the muses into one
Beauty tipping from the tip of her tongue

Scented in roses she’d carefully grown
A flower no gardener could own

And seeing the vile and valiant in all people
Thus never seeking saviors, only equals

Awash in wisdom that attracts locusts of love
And shining nay shimmering like a lantern from above