by Julia Griffin

“Duke of Edinburgh, Prince Philip, dies aged 99”
—The Guardian

A Queen of England ends her life alone.
High ceremony does its best to hide
The aging woman on the ageless throne.

Her deepest griefs can never be her own,
And yet, for all the public pomp and pride,
A Queen of England ends her life alone.

The only monarch most of us have known,
She plays her part, whatever loss betide
The aging woman on the ageless throne.

They grew together as old trees have grown,
The consort and the seven-decade bride:
A Queen of England ends her life alone.

We trust her now to mourn but not to moan;
We might behold too clearly, if she cried,
The aging woman on the ageless throne.

What do we make of her? Not flesh and bone;
And yet we sense how much of her has died,
This aged woman on her ageless throne.
A Queen of England ends her life alone.