So, act one of "Bailey and Ailynn: There Will be Blood" is done. Now I am almost halfway done with act two. I like to move the story forward with conflict and choices and echoes, sometimes, from earlier materials. In act one, Bailey's mother, The Good Queen of Ulster, recited a Pantoum and I'm using her with a Pantoum again in act two.
Pantoums don't rhyme. They basically can't rhyme because they use a repeating-line structure that give each repeat of the line a different context, and so, a different meaning.
At the start of this scene, Bailey and his cousin Rory, sneak out of the castle. The Good Queen follows them, and from the shadows, overhears the two young men planning to go find Bailey's true love, Ailynn of the South. After the men ride into the night, the Good Queen laments.
 |
| Bailey's mother, the Good Queen of Ulster, |
THE
GOOD QUEEN OF ULSTER
What do I feel, as I watch
him ride away?
He is a man now, and full of
his own plans.
He neither asks my leave,
nor needs my advice.
At least not till he is a
little older.
He is a man now, and full of
his own plans.
I cannot even hold him to
say goodbye.
At least not till he is a
little older.
And what kind of mother
worries deep into the night?
I cannot even hold him to
say goodbye.
And why would I? He is a
king, or one day will be.
And what kind of mother
worries deep into the night?
Let him make his own
mistakes.
And why would I? He is a
king, or one day will be.
Is every mother a queen? All
of them like me?
Let him make his own
mistakes.
Do all parents succeed only
by blind luck and the kindness of strangers?
Is every mother a queen? All
of them like me?
The cold darkness has a special
bite tonight.
Do all parents succeed only
by blind luck and the kindness of strangers?
Dread echoes fill my heart--past
deeds that cannot be undone.
The cold darkness has a
special bite tonight.
Have I wronged him? Failed
him?
Dread echoes fill my
heart--past deeds that cannot be undone.
Have I truly done all I could
to keep him safe?
Have I wronged him? Failed
him?
If a king may fall, how much
more every man?
Have I truly done all I could
to keep him safe?
No. No. No. Thrice no.
If a king may fall, how much
more every man?
I beg thee, Beauties of the
Night, guard!
No. No. No. Thrice no.
Take away this vision that
rattles my soul!
I bid thee, Beauties of the
Night, guard!
To love is to lose, but does
it have to be every day?
Take away this vision that
rattles my soul!
So many questions, and the
night is silent.
To love is to lose, but does
it have to be every day?
What do I feel, as I watch
him ride away?
So many questions, and the
night is silent.
At least not till he is a little
older.
Haunting, aye? If you like this poem, bookmark this page and check back for updates on my new play.
