Notes

Oh Fateful Royals — Collection 1

Written from Oct 17 2021 - Dec 9 2021


Introduction:

This collection originally started as just one poem, '9', which I wrote entirely because I was feeling poetic and wanted a little bit of a challenge, the challenge being to write a poem with 9 stanzas, each line in a stanza rhyming with the other lines of the same stanza but none of the other lines in the poem, and each line having 9 syllables. It originally, it had a(n even) darker theme, but the next day I wrote 'Rise Songbirds, For Today I am Your Ruler' and decided to change some of the lines in '9' and begin writing a collection from the point of view of a soldier prince who looses his father, the king, in a battle, and has to learn to cope while also learning to be king.

'Reckless Days' is about how the prince lived prior to his father's death, how they, along with their army, would roam the lands in search of new teretories to conquer, until one night when they were ambushed and all but 9 soldiers (the prince included) were killed.

'9' is about the continuous, seemingly neverending spiral of thoughts the prince experienced on the journey back home, as expressed in the vague and disjointed structure that follows the stanzas, and the overall length of the poem. It touches on the scatter brained feelings of remenicence and nostalgia one experiences after someone they love dies, the determination they hold towards trying to distract themself from the fact that their loved one has passed, the impulsively suicidal thoughts that can be brought forth by the newfound 'meaninglessness' of life, and the beginning of the stages of grief.

'You Grieve For Your King, I Grieve For My Father' is a very brief poem about the five stages of grief, each stanza representing a different stage. It's shortness is representative of the feeling of emptiness people often feel while learning to navigate the world without their loved one.

'My Father's Elegy' is exactly what it says on the tin: it's the poem the prince wrote about his father, for his father, knowing the man would never be able to read it himself. It's the prince writing to a dead man, asking for advice, speaking of the future, making promises, coping. The prince read the poem following his eulogy at his father's funeral.

'Rise Songbirds, For Today I am Your Ruler' is the shortest and the final piece in this collection. It's about the day of the prince's coronation which falls on the year anniversary of the king's death. It is short in length yet each line is long to impose the position the prince is now in, and his feelings towards becoming king: brief, cold, powerful, anticipating, wary, ready, and determined.





i. Reckless Days


or: rivalry, resilience, & ruthlessness

(written nov 14 2021)


our soldiers march on forever

victory an easy pleasure

loving living the reckless days

strung to long lines never tethered



hardly stopping for lengthily stays

sleeping through nights 'til dawn's first rays

smokey skies mark our successes

warriors stride through war unfazed



royalty flaunt their grand dresses

though their troops are sorry messes

warriors come, they come to kill

"mine," our king coldly confesses



their people lack any strong will

much more alive for the thrill

none do know how to win a fight

our army lives to make their fill



but when the stars came marking night

our soldiers were left without light

an ambush which only nine fled

including myself and a sight



our army's field painted in red

our army and you all lay dead







ii. 9


or: memory, misery, & mess

(written oct 17 2021)


proficient in the language of lies

considering cutting more than ties

while you see yourself within my eyes

i see myself in a cat's nine lives



weaker than steel but stronger than lead

crazy crazy, i'm losing my head

falling asleep on nobody's bed

i'm falling, falling, falling, i'm dead



your traveling soul meets me, the bard

old adventures inside the backyard

dying is easy, living is hard

we all are beyond mentally scarred



i read death's warranty; i still signed

'till my time is up, will you be kind?

school is so hard, i'm always behind

glad i've got you, friends are hard to find



count backward from ten, make father proud

demons and spirits linger around

now that the children rest safe and sound

tell me again which secret you found



i heard you last night, moaning out "ohh"

face red this morning, you know i know

some people say "you reap what you sow"

i'm watching, waiting for us to grow



thinking perhaps i deserve to drown

all pick-me-ups seem to let me down

deep red bloodstains on the new bride's gown

atop my head rests mother's old crown



my last breath, finally out of time

life gave me lemon, i wanted lime

oh, why is arson considered crime?

you fear me, fears loves me, fear all rhyme



reaching that point when dusk becomes night

i wasted my chance to make things right

now preparing for my final flight

goodbye old foes, i'm ending our fight







iii. You Grieve For Your King, I Grieve For My Father

or: lamenting, learning, & letting go

(written nov 14 2021)


walking through the gates

seeing mother's face

how is it i'm here but not you?



tearing our my hair

living in despair

why couldn't it be me, not you?



the kingdom is closed

mourners stand in rows

i'll kill myself to come see you



sitting by myself

liquor leaves the shelf

i'm wishing it were me, not you



the months pass me by

all i do is cry

i'll learn to be me without you







iv. My Father's Elegy


or: pretense, promise, & prospect

(written 9 dec 2021)

i swear to play songs by your grave

so your eternal rest may feel less cold.

i wish your coffin were more cussioned,

you deserve better than waking to stiff joints and bones.




you taught me to fight, to write, and of fame.

you showed me all this world has to give

and now you won't be here to see me grow and live.

but is that really so bad when all i do now is blame?




am i moving too slow or maybe too fast?

i want to keep living without guilt,

but living within these walls you built

has me gripping so tightly onto the past.




its absurd how i ever cared about such simple things.

i suppose the nievity of a young mind is truly a pitiful gift.

you tried telling me so once and i ignored how your gaze shifted.

but you were always so wise, the true king of all kings.




maybe one day i'll join you too,

if i'm good enough to land among the stars and moonbeams,

or wherever it is only you can reach

as the greatest king and father this world will ever see.




it used to take a lot to move me

though nowadays my tears run free.

my fingers trace the pages you signed,

i know too soon they'll belong to me.







v. Rise Songbirds, For Today I am Your Ruler

or: death, deference, & development

(written 18 oct 2021)


understanding your new position as king

upon my young head they will place father's old gold crown

mother stands in her black robes, still wearing her funeral frown

this kingdom's passerine birds will learn my name to sing