A Poem From Across the Pond

(Rest in Peace, Queen Elizabeth II)

Said the queen: Why yes tis I!

Her highness reigning from up high

So high above the London Eye

(A building greater than Versailles)

 

My day begins with my queen bed

Catching each last final zed

While the Sleep Girl holds my head

And re-fluffs my swan-down spread

 

I greet my day with scarce a yawn

Already bright before the dawn

I croquet upon the lawn

Then nibble on a French bonbon

 

‘The marmalade shan’t be pre-made!’

I decree while my hair they braid

‘I’d be chuffed to see it marinade!’

And munch while I chose who next to raid

 

And entertained by Baryshnikov

Underneath my large Van Gogh

I think, well I certainly have got the dosh

So, I tell that portrait, ‘bugger off!’

 

And then someone with a squint

Leaves and fetches me a Klimt

But still leaves me far from skint

Because after all I own the mint

 

After shopping I could kip

So, I ring for tea on which to sip

And a biscuit in which to dip

And a Rolls Royce in which to trip

 

And reclining in said royal carriage

Kept on call within my garage

I muse upon the royal marriage

And the new royals to disparage

 

And considering I’m already skiving

And nothing warrants my arriving

I tell the lad to just keep driving

And into London we start diving

 

Now, I do love the average Brit

But average blokes, I must admit

Seem to act like starking gits

And each day’s more barking twits

 

To start, some girl straight out of uni

Her make-up making her cartoony

And making every wazzock moony

Til she’s in the boot of some old loony

 

Pubs are next: we ought to check them

All too chockablock to wreck them

Of plastered twits who want a Beckham

But will settle for a dish to neck ‘em

 

So, I plow deeper into Soho

A city even worse than Skid Row

But, ‘know your onions!’ so I go

And am reassured: it beats Glasgow

 

“Chauffer, I wish to end our stay”

He explains the road is just one way

“Those rules are not for me”, I say

And command he turn here anyway

 

He spins the car: a bump, then yell

The chauffeur shouts, “Bloody hell!”

And outside the car, a crowd’s a’ swell

Over some legless tosser who just fell

 

I poke my head around the glass

And see a broken oozing mass

A bloody heap that tried to pass

Knocked over when we hit the gas

 

Some peasant from its condominium

(What are those made from, aluminum?)

But all seems to be in equilibrium

No need to stay here a millennium

 

“Chauffeur! Let us lunch back in the palace!

He just needs a nice strong chalice!

The commoners know we meant no malice”

They look at me as though I were callous

 

Then I reroll the glass before I gag

And take a long relaxing drag

From a menthol flavored fag

I’ve stowed away in my bum bag

 

My lunch is salt-less beans and porridge

Seasoned with a pinch of borage

Which I daily send to forage

For it wilts and wanes when it’s in storage

 

Then I watch the news go for a spin

See Brexit’s got another pin

And that some fellow’s been done in

By a royal family kin

 

“Codswollop,” I say, then “I’ll blame Markle

Low as a dog, and with her next bark I’ll

Remind her Great Britain is matriarchal!”

Then I close my eyes, so no one sees them sparkle

 

I click the telly and grab a quill

And sign off on some other bill

Because leading really takes no skill

Then I hear a shout: “This ain’t a drill!”

 

“Blimey!” I nearly drop my scroll

As the palace bells begin to toll

I look up outside, on my flagpole:

A waving mass of used bog roll

 

“Your highness, we must go somewhere safer

Your securities have begun to taper

They’ve decked the halls with toilet paper

And we still don’t know who was the draper!”

 

I hear the butler, but carry on

With my survey of the lawn

And the protesters thereon

To see which of them had done the con

 

And at that moment, I hear a voice

Who I recognize, but don’t rejoice:

“Your liege, you offered me no choice!

That was my love in front of your Rolls Royce!”

 

And who should it be but Miss Cartoony

That same old twit straight out of uni

Her tear-stained eyes now more racoony

Trying to make me look bafoony

 

Well I certainly cannot have that

I don my most majestic hat

And singing where I could have spat

I call, “My dear, stop being such a prat!”

 

Then, because these are my grounds

I click the switch to release the hounds

And a dozen corgis come screaming down

Attacking her and all her clowns

 

Shrieks fill the lawn as gnashing maws

Rip tendons and dislocate jaws

My corgis bring forth fear not “aw”s

Death rides atop their stubby paws

 

And with my dogs upon her horde

I see that balance is restored

I’m back to frightfully adored

And frankly now, I’m rather bored

 

“Butler, go and clean the trim

Oust the rolls and scattered limbs

The gardenias are looking grim

Those bloody scraps of flesh aren’t prim”

 

My maid brings tea, I pick a bun

Next a martini, and later rum

Outside there grows a louder hum:

A media frenzy’s shout and drum

 

My butler enters, looking ill

(Maybe just from cleaning swill?)

But I can tell, with sudden chill

The time has come to pay my bill

 

“Your Royal Highness, they have come

They ask why you have stayed so mum

They say they have a smoking gun

They say that you have killed someone”

 

My maid blurts: “Is it really you?

The one they must be talking to?”

I think, it doesn’t matter what is true:

Their blood is red and mine is blue

 

So, I didn’t think to lie

I gave those journals their reply

Now every headline prints the cry:

“Said the queen: Why yes tis I!”