"boudica" poems
did you know that
there's no such thing as
a perfect name?
one day i'm catherine
and in the next breath, esther -
boudica, scathach, chiang;
virginia, sacagawea, rosalind.
i change like the ocean
so don't try to name me.
don't try to limit me.
you cannot keep me
from being great.
Jun 18, 2015
Jun 18, 2015 at 2:36 PM UTC
i can't say i loved you like some hero of old
the greatest beast i've had to fight is a
man who told me girls couldn't do
anything (and yeah, i proved him wrong, but
he left thinking me the exception,
not the rule)
don't treat me as othello, far from home and struck
down with words stronger than desdemon's love
the moor was everything i'm not
don't call me boudica
don't call me scathach or aoife -
the reason their once-bright flames are
so captivating is that their hearts were strong and
more alive than their eyes (which
danced with fire even as they died)
they were heroes and i am here
i couldn't love you like a warrior,
conquistador,
ruler -
yet.
but it's what's coming that matters,
not what came. (of course i can't love you with
fire not yet mine.
it will be.)
Dec 15, 2015
Dec 15, 2015 at 9:18 PM UTC
(Yet another re-write)
....
Of crocodiles
And betrayal,
Boudica's clad
In chain mail,
Cleopatra
Uncorks
Another bottle,
Scythed-wheeled chariots
Going full throttle.
In gems and jewels
And golden bangles;
Crowns tilted
At jaunty angles.
Telling
Tales of lovers
And kingdoms lost,
And of
The clever men
They'd double-crossed
With ruby lips,
A breath of silk
And pert ******* bathed
In ***** milk,
Until the asp
And an axe
At a slender throat,
Then a sarcophagus
And
A wolfskin coat.
The Iceni queen
And Ptolemy's wife -
Whispering Sappho
In the
After-life;
Where they get
The giggles
About what happened
To Ceasar
And swap some bits of gossip
About
The Queen Of Sheba.
Apr 2, 2025
Apr 2, 2025 at 3:07 PM UTC