CATHERINE HOWARD'S LETTER

On the eve of her execution...

                                  
                        The Tower of London.

                        The 12^th Day of February,

                        the Year of our Lord 1542

My Dearest Husband,

                             There is still time for you to show a little mercy. Think, my Love, of all we have been to each other these past three years. Please, I implore you to reconsider, before there is no going back.

My fate is wholly in your hands.

If, on the morrow I am to depart this world, then your decision will reside in your conscience for the remainder of your days.

Henry, I AM INNOCENT of these despicable charges against me.

I have NEVER, EVER been unfaithful to you – not once – and have certainly not had intimate relations with my own brother, as I now stand so unjustly accused. How could you even begin to believe such ugly rumours as these mine enemies have concocted against me?

You know me, Henry, better than anyone.

You must believe in your heart of hearts that you are and always have been my only love. Archbishop Cranmer is a gullible man if he has been taken in by these vile lies. If he really cannot see that I have fallen victim to jealousy and spite, then he must be a weak and piteous man who is unfit for such a position of power as he presently holds.

Please stop and consider for a moment:

I am 39 years your junior – of course there are those who may be envious, but surely that does not compel you to believe their slander, and even worse, take their side against your wife?

Oh Henry, how such vivid memories this evening rise up to torment me!

I have never before confessed to you how, on the morning of our wedding day whilst my ladies-in-waiting were dressing me, I could think of nothing but lying in your bed later that night and feeling those Royal Hands roaming all over my eager young body. I am certain they must have interpreted my tell-tale blushes and read my mind, for I noticed the knowing smiles they exchanged.

So, My Love, how have we come to this?

I have witnessed the desire in those beloved brown eyes gradually turn to disgust – and certainly due to no act of high treason on my part whatsoever.

Oh Henry, I can barely believe how callous you have become.

How could you ignore my screams of despair when I broke free from the Yeomen of the Guard as they arrested me, and ran to your chapel where you were at your devotions?

How I banged on that door in utter torment –

I know you could not have failed to hear my desperate plea – and yet you allowed my captors to drag me away, still screaming, and incarcerate me here in this God-forsaken place.

But I still have not lost hope. My faith in you as my Husband and King is all I have left now.

Please Dear Henry, I beseech you – please do not abandon me here to die.

I have only seen nineteen summers.

If you no longer want me, then why not simply divorce me?

I am reduced to begging you now.

Please, please my Love, can you not find it in your heart to at least spare my life?

If, by some miracle, you can, then I hereby give you my word that you shall never set eyes upon me again and so will be free to remarry whomsoever you choose.

Whatever decision you come to,

Goodbye my Dear Heart, my Noble King,

And God Bless You.

Your ever loving wife,

Catherine

ECLIPSE

The Moon is growing full again.

See her swollen belly,

heavy with the foetus within?

I remember when she was stick-thin,

invisible almost,

a virginal crescent

of glowing gold

that inflamed the Sun God,

then stole his fire.

Observing the eclipse in awe,

a God and Goddess' coupling

that touches us all:

In the blackout

I feel your hands

arousing in me a hunger.

On this rain-drenched beach

I take it all:

your pulsing energy

and reaching deeper,

discover an awakening Soul

as desperate as mine for immortality...

But Her time has passed now.

She is growing slim again.

Oh such bitter disappointment -

I am not the chosen one

to bear a miniature Sun.

There is only blood...

GIN & TONIC

I was intrigued by the way she ordered it,
as if it were liquid gold,
or melted platinum,
or the essence of past lovers:
a private erotic pleasure.
It was like she belonged
to a bygone era
when women were elegant
and expected to be wooed,
and a mere hint of perfume
or glimpse of an ankle
could drive a man insane.

She sipped from her glass
like an aristocrat
from some grand stately home.
But her domain was darkened streets
and drunken men spilling out
after closing time.
The gin and tonic
just about made it palatable -
that Soul-destroying cost
of being a working class woman
cursed with expensive tastes.

REFLECTIONS

Inspired by an episode of "Inspector Morse"

There were two Suns. I slipped between.
Now trees in the water without me.
I am lingering between two beautiful Worlds,
still waiting for someone to claim me.

The noose about my neck is gone,
gone back with the hands that tied it.
In it's place is an ethereal daisy chain
woven of air and magic.

Instead is an ethereal daisy chain
where once your lips caressed me.
Oh how could those hands that so worshipped my body
have become the ones to slay me?

What of your glib endearments now
that still endlessly taunt me unbidden?
And where is your reflection in the water now
above where my body lies hidden?

This canal was our special trysting place,
hand-in-hand we'd stroll by the water.
So how could my simple smile for a stranger
have justified such rage and slaughter?

For a century I've haunted this tow-path now:
a reflection of remains unfound.
For everyone believes the lie that I left you,
and  you've long since gone to ground.



I am taking a week off to recharge my batteries.
As I know my chosen destination is an extremely poor connection zone, I hope you will all forgive me if I am unable to visit your wonderful blogs next week...I will miss them so much...:(
But I will "see" you again soon...