Reign

By Radwa Munir

A kingdom trapped in her heart

Yearns to summon a war

Her soul naked as Baroque Art

Rules the kingdom like czar

Faith trembles like dews on emerald leaves

While the rubies red

Are stitched on her half-torn sleeves

But she carries the majestic emblem adorned on her head

While the hermit thrush sings in the lavender garden

And the horses prance through the silver storm,

She wears her crown and learns to perform,

The art of pain, guilt and love, forbidden

A crown is just a hat that lets the rain in,

When sovereignty is slaved, from where does royalty begin?

They made her wear the crown of love

And taught her how to dry her tears

The vultures hover in the sky above

Waiting for a share of diamond from the necklace she wears

They made her wear the crown of justice

Her dreams crucified, buried under the velvet pillows,

She learned to garment her pride, unforgotten of the prejudice

Her ears longed for the last song of the swallows.

At dawn, she slumbers

In the muse of cherubs’ lullaby

Learns how Aphrodite used to beautify

In the burning nights, dark as umbers

She learned how to upturn the sands of time

Established her reign, her heart so cold and dreams turned rime.

By Radwa Munir