QUEEN NEFARIOUS

The following poem is an epic tale that I have written in rhyme. 

Obviously, it represents good vs. evil (Light and Dark).

I hope you enjoy it!

~Denise

Long ago, a modest kingdom had risen,

When the King took a damsel from a dismal prison.

She became the Queen, as a woman of exceptional beauty;

She secretly sought the throne; and to rule it, absolutely.

She warned the lovesick Lord of a looming threat,

and revealed to him the mysteries of the undead.

Together they traveled to many lands,

To conquer evil; and, Darkness, to disband.

They commanded elite knights, upon which they relied,

To crush and kill the inhabitants of all who defy.

The Queen gave to each, (scores of men), a golden ring,

bearing the Dragon emblem of the King.

And, a mighty kingdom was built upon the ground of the defeated;

They had vanquished the Dark, and it slowly receded.

Ships docked on land with many seeking the Light,

Bells rang daily, to signal the Sentries, that more had arrived.

And peace fell upon the land, like a summer's trickling stream.

A peace so deep, it was like the memories of a dream.

Lo, darkness returned, because the Kingdom was cursed;

Buried secrets, of myth and magic, were unearthed.

For in the depths of the castle lived a secluded mage,

Who knew the Queen was not really whom she portrayed.

She was the undead, who sought souls to feed her hunger,

She must feast on the souls of the young and the tender.

To sustain her perpetual resurrection, I must mention;

That betwixt the silken folds of her sweeping gown,

She detained the unwilling souls of the dead;

And, no one could hear their wailing laments,

For as long as she wore the imperial crown.

And, so the mage surreptitiously warned the king,

Of the impending doom, she soon would bring.

Suspicion and trepidation slowly increased,

And, across the land, returned terrible beasts.

Many who visited the castle, soon disappeared,

And the people of the region, quietly feared;

The King considered how to preserve the land's fate,

He knew he must smother the shadow and tend the flame.

But, the misty veil grew, casting Darkness from dawn to twilight,

As the Queen summoned greater power from the Eternal Night.

The King, knew he must defy and defeat the cursed Queen,

He summoned the Mage and together, they schemed.

Rushing the stairs, she refused to open the throne door;

Challenging his authority, justifying her insatiable lust for more.

The Mage advised the King they must summon a great fire,

For only Light can extinguish her great desire.

And from his cloak, he produced a seemingly ordinary ember,

But the dull Light radiated an eerie glow, as if it remembered.

A great wind, from his staff,  the mage suddenly produced,

Igniting the ember, and a white Light was unloosed.

A weak Light slowly fell through the castle door cracks,

Then, lightning erupted and thunder clapped,

The Queen could be heard tumbling, expelling a gasp.

The forged hinges and wood were torn from the threshold,

With tortured screams, and burning with merciless holes;

The Queen collapsed and released the souls that were chained,

Charred soot, and Her crown was all that remained.

And Light grew across the Kingdom, and fires again burned,

The tiny ember still flickered, and, humanity returned.

Now the great King lives in peace, and quite alone,

High in the turret on his majestic throne;

He contemplates both the Darkness and Light.

Pondering their secrets, though, still unknown,

The King keeps vigil both day and night,

For neither truly have a beginning, nor an end.

He tends the dying ember, as each night descends.


© Denise Goodwin, November 14, 2015
All rights reserved.