The Auguring of the New Monarch, 2001



a painting by Kitchi Foisantte, and its accompanying poem,



Ode to Elmyra, 2001

Bended are customs
in an hour of crisis;
ignored is the lustrum

to decree our Queen,
held early is the gala
so she may be seen.

Blamed for one-two-four,
shamed for the Greathive's summon,
a target for war.

The best defenses
to save our great culture is
the strongest offense;

a humbling seed
sprouts around caves of fine stone
where Greathive may feed.

A pact of warm blood
binds Queen to Queen, mutually,
both poising to flood

for reasons distinct;
for Faeborne to claim what could
not be done in ink.

But will roots take hold,
or be ripped out before bloom?
Soon it shall be told.