...and timing makes the tragedy - west ambrose

And the two who hardly mattered,

And the mad girl who was sane enough to

Take her freedom in the only way possible

And the Queen who had no say in this,

And the uncle accidentally killed,

And the brother who wanted no part in this,

And the kingdom rotten as a metaphor for

Disgust over something you can’t control,

And family trauma that no one cares about

(Even you at this point)

And people who trap you because

They’re trapped too, And if they can’t live happily

And if someone needs to suffer passively, And if you need

to lie and rave and rage to protect yourself

And if it starts with a dead father, isn’t that just the metaphor

of the century

And if the one person you trust, “to thine own self

“be true,” is the one person you never want to see hurt,

And if he’s the one alive, but irreparably grieving, begging for warmth and

breath and your lips one last time and

and

and …

And the scholar weeping illogically, cradling

the body of the boy who just wanted to stay at university

because he remembered reading how

No one can really go home

Again

And live to tell about it.

West Ambrose is a writer and grad student. His twitter is @westofcanon and his website is westofcanon.com where you can find creative works inspired by antiquity and classic lit. The website, westofcanon.com, is also the home of the Crow’s Nest and HLK Quarterly, an opportunity for the folks of many/any disciplines with interest in nautical and seaward things.