Sonnet to a Monarchist

Dear Poet,

                    your dream of Arthur, Merlin and Taliesin

    is a fantasy island, Conservatism in fancy dress

        more agreeable to the EDL than the lefty bohemian,

            Dark Age tabloid propaganda no different from today’s.

                Why, one of the poor, revere a family so avaricious

                    as to own the globe in the name of commonweal

                       – six billion acres, a sixth of Planet Earth’s surface –

                            and who’d value a penny coin above humanity?

Why, vegan and pacifist, defend these holocausters

    of the natural kingdom and of ‘uncivilised’ peoples?

        Why, accomplished artist, fetishize a man who’s world-famous

             for being incapable of anything but waving?

                                                                                             He is not regal,

                                                                                             nor is his court.

Wake up and see Arthur, Merlin and Taliesin

    come back as Prince Charles, Paul Daniels and Andrew Motion.

Text: Niall McDevitt

Graphic: Mike Lesser