The Sun King Comes to America
A Rondeau
The Sun King’s here, stiff with a smile,
robes of brocade, gold tongue of guile.
Dappled mist melts, senses take flight.
Owl is proved wrong and buzzard right,
the Sun King’s here.
His rays rain over mile on mile,
burning the fair, shading the vile;
angels' despair, gamblers' delight,
with all our gold to spend tonight,
the Sun King’s here.
Darkness slaps back light’s denial.
Truth keeps her mouth shut at the trial.
Gaia bleeds out, war-weak and white,
drained by a blindworm parasite.
Drinking nectar, excreting bile,
the Sun King’s here.
June 2011
Posted for Friday Poetically at the inimitable OneStopPoetry
Friday Poetically is hosted by Brian Miller, who I hope will forgive me for taking liberties with his prompt, which was to "write a poem about the sun, heat or use it as a metaphor..."
The rondeau form is explained here at wikipedia
Louis XIV… known as the Sun King was an absolute monarch, King of France from 1643 to 1715(72 years.) You can find out a bit more about him at his wikipedia entry if interested. I have chosen to employ him here in a symbolic aspect.
Gaea (Gaia)~the ancient Greek goddess of the earth, mother of the Titans.
Image: Louis XIV as Apollo, 1653, artist not named, courtesy of wikimedia commons
