Saturday, October 31, 2009

Last Words With Her Executioner (Poem)

Last Words With Her Executioner
(jeanne d'arc)

How did you silence my voice?

        I raised it to the king,
        who stopped it with his laughter.

        I signed it to the deaf,
        who had nothing but smiles for you.

What happened to my hands?

        I wrapped them in rope
        behind your back.

        I broke them in surrender.

What became of my eyes?

        I lifted them to princes
        to wear as jewels in crowns.

        I covered them with my sins,
        ornaments in my palms.

How did you care for my wounds?

        I healed them with my sword.
        I bound them in the name of war.

What did you do with my tears?

        I raked them to your stake.
        I drank them as your guilt.

Where did you place my bones?

        On a scaffold in the streets,
        cobbled dirt of France's feet.

How do you remember me?

        As a woman singled out.

        A woman with the body
        of a tender boy,

        a bell tolling round her neck,
        flames spurring to her waist.

To whom did you give my love?

        I passed it among your generals,
        who wear it as their cause.

        I pinned it lonely to my heart.

What did you do with my soul?

        I scattered it among rosemary
        to grow from the courage of hurt.

Who follows me now?

        A name that will not die.
        We: other women beside you.

Copyright Maureen E. Doallas. All Rights Reserved.

3 comments:

L.L. Barkat said...

This...

"I pinned it lonely to my heart."

And the way this poem moves, urges. Something about it so poignant. A beauty, pain laced.

Don Kimrey said...

I stumbled upon your site by what I'm coming to call a "divine accident." I was very touched by your poetry, and also by your thoughts on the "gang bangers." That was shocking and heart-breaking and I agree: something should be done.
Also, I ran across something you'd written on another post somewhere and thought I may have occasion to quote it. It sounded so appropriate for inclusion in a book which I'm completing" God's Comeback Kids. May I use what you said: . . . To "be lost" and then "come home" is the most profound experience we can hope for.

OCTOBER 26, 2009 6:39 AM

Maureen said...

L.L., As always, I appreciate when you read and comment, given my delight in your own wonderful words.

Don, thank you for your kind comments. I hope you will follow my blog regularly. Your book sounds very interesting; I'd like to know more. I'm ok with your request. I have to admit I remember my words but not where I posted them, now that I leave comments on so many other writers' blogs.