Bride to Be (part one)
Bride to Be
(one)
She is going to marry; she will bargain for herself
A right-hand place, that of first wife, an ear beside the throne
A voice of calm and counsel, bent on knitting borders
She has two offers, and prefers of these, one
She asks that her kinswoman carry back this word
My way binds hands the better, my sympathies assured
Being somewhat divine, the queen’s younger sibling
A member of the household, but long consecrated to the gods
Is oft entrusted with her brother’s will
May leave his house, permitted to play envoy
The streets are now in a winter state
She has gone down on horseback with seven soldiers
One to lead, two either side, two behind
They walk their mounts in the mud at a stately pace
Each forward rider, a head before her, bears the king’s banner
They pass the gate; a mile they go through thin woodland
One of the rearguard is given a message
He gallops ahead where the ground is firmer
Carves behind him a trail of crescents, up the hill
Soon, as they approach, the widow’s flag is raised
To say she is at home and welcomes them
At once the hearths are set to blazing
The feast will take some time, but mead is served
“Daughter,” she says, for she has fifty years
“It is the time of life when one has done one’s duty.
I will tell you a story.”
They say Dame Fortune’s favors bless the bold
It may be so, yet such must fall with no great fealty
For equally the quiet, biding soul
Gains much, by patience… in time, she may gain all
Bride to Be
Bride to Be (two)
The Marigold Bowl
(2017, Stephanie Foster)