Thursday, May 22, 2008

Axel de Fersen on the demise of Antoinette

Axel de Fersen So much for contemporary history - I decided to go some centuries back this time. In 1990, I had read the synopsis of a book titled "Louis and Antoinette" by Vincent Cronin. This book, while it chronicled the lives of Marie Antoinette and Louis XVI on the backdrop of the French revolution, it also talked about a character in the king's court, Axel de Fersen, who was in love with the queen but could do little when the juggernaut took over and watched helplessly while the queen was guillotined.
I had written this poem on reading the synopsis. Hope you like it:

October 16, 1793
When a page softly broke the news,
His face fell, his eyes were aghast:
Lips stuttered, and cheeks changed their hues
And he wept, chewing on the past,
"I shudder to think how she's gone,
Parted by the ominous blade,
Leaving behind me to atone
Memories that never fade ...

Memories haunt this guilty mind:
I loved neither king nor his throne
But his lady, she drove me blind
And left this weak heart to atone
For all those sweet, fleeting moments
'Oh God! Why did she have to go?
Make me bear such fiery torrents-
I cannot face their whipping flow.'

'Forgive me, o departed prince
For worshipping your wife divine,
The loveliest of all the queens
That enraptured this heart of mine'
But alas! I cannot find her
For she left me to start anew ..."

And his heart was torn asunder
And he too, couldn't start anew.






Monday, May 19, 2008

An ode to Lorena Bobbit

Ode to Lorena Bobbit Recently a friend of mine had run a quiz on orkut by showing a photo of Lorena Bobbit and asked folks to identify her. The clue said that she represented a violent form of feminism. Answers ranged from "my ex" to "Mona Lisa with a makeover". Somehow the whole stuff jogged a chain of memories and I was compelled to pen a few lines on her. Agree that Lorena Bobbit is not the ideal thing to start a blog but somehow I felt that people should remember her just like they remember Jack the Ripper, John Lennon, Babe Ruth or (even) Hillary Rodham Clinton.


So here is my poem offering to Lorena Bobbit, hope you enjoy it:


Not long ago, in an American state

Started the trial of someone whose mate

Suffered at her hands, a curious fate:

The legend of Lorena Bobbit.


To a prison she was sent

And on an on, her trial went

When she blurted out,"For all he did,

I just let him have it!"


As lawyers let the gory facts roll by,

The aghast judge heaved a sigh,

"I dont want to hear the rest,

Why dont you just cut it?"


To a renowned bishop, the judge did send

And she told her tale till she reached the end

Said the troubled bishop in front of the nuns,

"Its okay, my child, to do such things once

Hope by God, it doesnt become,

a deadly feminine habit"