Eleanor's Story I
Prelude
Tis cold here this time of year
and the walls in Fontevrault contain me
my veil, this labored life now......
I return to the time, when the courtship
of us began, to the time of the Troubadour
minstrels and the crusades.
I am the lioness, the prowling cat
the Queen of this lair, I now lay to die
and yet Henry, remembrance of us, is not bitter,
but a history waiting to be told.
Our lives, our love, the wars, the arguments
banishment and betrayals,
shall weep from this nib and ink out in truths.
In verse of Latin or Poitevin, I shall regale
how we courtly loved and yet married we were,
"without the pomp or ceremony that befitted our ranks".
The courtship began
with promise of wealth
from my fortune,
a dowry worth gold and a fertile
woman, an amazonian warrior.
Henry's Story I
Prelude
My words, the scourge of
those who fawn after me.
King I must, God I cannot be.
Oh, Thomas, all dead, but you
my Eleanor, my dear
I recount now, with jocular humor
how we became coupled,
King & Queen
of England and acquired lands.
This tale of courtship and wealth
I fall to the heartland of Anjou,
to the throne of my voracious empire
that soured you to me.
Fifteen years of your House Arrest
have narrowed my eyes,
my soul now weakened, my agility disfigured
befallen my reddish mane with graying tears.
I shall now tell the sorry souls,
minstrels and strolling players of our fate
troubadours sang of our love,
and our failings, now left in the disquiet of time.
I go back, back to when my warrior queen shone
within shadows of my philandering.
How through my betrayals, you rose up,
fastened our sons to your hip and belly
and fought me like a Lion in Winter.
You were my Queen,
my beloved, in the year 1152
in Bordeaux,
I wed you and therein lies the story
of the Plantagenets,
of us, Eleanor.
Silver trophy winner
Adding your comment:
thank you Kathleen
..... we hope to carry this tale on for a bit yet..........
Ohhh...This is my absolute favorite penning from you, my Friend...& that's sayin' a lot, considerin' I love everything you write. Such sweeping grandeur, such utter magnificence pours from every line. I have chills runnin' up & down my spine. I would swoon, even, but I'm at work & they kinda frown on that. 
