Longing   

 (Catherine of Aragon, 1529)

A prominent brow;

luminous cow-eyed

spheres of quartz,

vanish as her lashes meet.

A crucifix−

twisted and ornate−

hangs low like

intricate plaits

swinging as she kneels forward.

Her prayer culminates to a whisper−

resolute and transfixed−

utterances of a child:

male and free of disease.

Successive births offering

jubilant cries that diminish

as the lungs fail to contract

time and again.

The murmurings spread,

even among her ladies. 

Copyright © CS Reid, 2008