woman pulls on rope
each fourth second of this hour
toll echoes through gorge
that night, drunks in street
try out new anthem for size
irreverent laughs
~
n.b. Since the collapse of the English Revolution in 1660, the wealthiest landowners have firmly stuck together to ensure they get to choose the head of state. There is no likelihood of another civil war, (literally or figuratively), between competing groups of landowners in the UK ever again.
Scottish, Dutch and German aristocrats have been drafted into the post since 1603 when the Welsh Tudor family, (who seized power with the help of French allies in 1485) ran out of offspring.
Therefore, it could be argued that the late queen’s greatest achievement was to have four children, who have had children of their own, thereby ensuring very little will change in how the UK is run and by whom for a few generations yet.
The people of the UK get to vote for the servants of the crown, but the monarchy, (this iteration descended from an obscure Hanoverian protestant family of aristocrats invited to take on the throne in 1714), keeps the jewellery and ensures that the keys to much needed change remain at arm’s length.
n.n.b. The gorge referred to above is the Ironbridge gorge, one day likely to be identified as the original source of human-driven climate disruption.
n.n.n.b. The new anthem contains the unfamiliar line “God save the king.”
p.s. The people of Ukraine continue fighting for their lives. Day 199.
CLP 10/09/2022
Journey of Words 