Women have always said “I’m sorry” (Marie Antoinette) 1. (It is said) after her graceful walk all dressed in white she politely apologized to her executioner for stepping on his foot 2. Nine-month prison gestation to this guillotine her young son used against her did she get to hold his confused face in her hands when Louis trudged first? 3. Hair shocked white no more need for powder bread insurrection mob demanding to be fed found her hide and seek cowering in her decorated corner 4. Every diamond sparkling chandelier Every perfectly swooped filigree Every golden lacquered trim Every embroidered thick thread Every soft velveted mantle Every intricate brocaded wall Every curled ornate mirror 5. Under arched fresco cherub ceilings stretched by the hall of mirrors she gazed at herself here her every surface swooped bejeweled and brocaded flowered and powdered chandelier wig of ships 6. It is easy to forget before angry peasants stormed their cobblestone streets before their banging on the Bastille Fortress her voice created gardens carved corset tightened trimmed proper polite uniform greenery 7. Yet, there are the thrashing horses spraying wild water in all directions unbridled, unleashed masquerade fantasies secret smiles 8. Also, the hobbit sized door providing temporary escape from frosting fabrics, lace trellises cream champagne, lip pink strawberries jeweled easter candy garters lemon yellow amusements hushed baby blue macaron silk fans 9. Away from the golden encrusted Queen they dressed her to be each day away from the tarnished reputations conjured by 18th century scandal rags and Paparazzi smacking her across her cheeks until they turned into peeled open rotten sardines 10. How dare she and her cake how dare a 14-year-old Austrian girl who struggled to write who barely spoke French whose crooked teeth must be fixed through a jaw bone corset 11. How dare she and every woman who recognizes themself when she steps on her own executioner’s foot and whispers Pardon Je Suis de ’sole I’m sorry
About the Author:
Amanda Hayden is Poet Laureate for Sinclair College and Professor of Humanities, Philosophy, and Religions (emphasis in Indigenous, Eastern, and Environmental Studies), receiving several pedagogy awards, including the SOCHE Award (2017) and the League for Innovation Teaching Excellence Award (2020). Her chapter, Saunter Like Muir: Experience Projects in Environmental Ethics was recently published by Routledge (2022) in Eco pedagogies: Practical Approaches to Experiential Learning. In addition to writing: Windy Chicken Farm Animal Rescue, her poems have been featured in Voices of Real by Poetry is Life Press, Carnation Collection by Wild Ink Publishing, Angela Yurko Smith’s Publisher’s Showcase and Stripes Literary Magazine. She is currently working on a poetry manuscript about European travel. She lives with her family on a small farm with three dogs, two cats, two goats, seven pigs, many chickens, and a duck named Dorothy.
Visuals
Image credits: historical images available through a partnership between museums and open acess. All images are in the public domaine and are licensed under the Creative Commons License. Graphic Design by Teresa Berkowitz.
Right?! Real.
Love you..step high for all the women in the world..wow you are amazing 😍 no