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A Right Royal Coronation

Anon the pomp and pageantry will beam
From London as King Charles III is crowned.
The Abbey-bound procession’s set to stream
On gleaming tides of splendour to the sound
Of jaunty hooves and chatter from a sea
Of gazers as his coach cleaves through the streets.
I’ll keep a wistful eye on my TV
For gilded instants splashed with regal treats.
I’ll toast this proper Charlie, wish him well—
This man with plans no queen would entertain.
I hope his royal voyage won’t cause a swell
Of turbulence that rocks a harebrained reign.
__When green and grizzled kings cruise with the woke,
__Their sceptre, orb, and throne go up in smoke.

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proper Charlie: British slang for a fool or idiot.

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Susan Jarvis Bryant has poetry published on Lighten Up Online, Snakeskin, Light, Sparks of Calliope, and Expansive Poetry Online. She also has poetry published in TRINACRIA, Beth Houston’s Extreme Formal Poems anthology, and in Openings (anthologies of poems by Open University Poets in the UK). Susan is the winner of the 2020 International SCP Poetry Competition, and has been nominated for the 2022 Pushcart Prize.


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58 Responses

    • Susan Jarvis Bryant

      Thank you very much, Paul. I simply don’t have coronation fever… sadly, my bunting is wilting. 😉

      Reply
    • Susan Jarvis Bryant

      I had to politely decline, Wayne… I’m washing my hair.

      Reply
    • Susan Jarvis Bryant

      You are most welcome, Betty. I’m glad it made you smile.

      Reply
  1. Paddy Raghunathan

    Susan,

    You’ve turned the Shakespearean sonnet on its head. Shakespeare, in spite of his greatness and what he did for the English language, remained loyal and subservient to the British monarchy.

    And here you are, calling out poor Charlie for what he really is. If it’s any solace to you, our (so called) leaders in the United States aren’t any better.

    Best regards,

    Paddy

    Reply
    • Susan Jarvis Bryant

      Paddy, thank you very much for your spot on comment – I only hope I don’t end up in the Tower. Living in Texas could well save my skin… no planet-saving king is going to let me smear my filthy carbon footprint all over Gaia on a flight to London… I hope. 😉 You’re certainly right about the leaders here… I think there’s a global problem where leaders are concerned… sadly.

      Reply
  2. Paul Martin Freeman

    Indeed, Susan, your point is as well taken as it is made with your usual artistry. Trotsky may have been right in this case when he said we get the leaders we deserve.

    Good luck with your books!

    Reply
    • Susan Jarvis Bryant

      Paul, thank you very much for your comment and your well wishes on my debut books. I think there’s a lot of truth in your Trotsky observation… we’ve taken our freedoms for granted and our eye off of authority… now our freedoms are dwindling under the iron fist of power-hungry frauds. Whoops!

      Reply
  3. Roy Eugene Peterson

    Oh, Susan, I really love the last two lines! Spot on! I have been anticipating such a rendition from you on the coronation and was rewarded. My disdain goes back to his treatment, or lack thereof, of Princess Diana and his finding a “consort.” I purchased both your books and look forward to them arriving soon. I sent for them as soon as I saw it posted on the SCP newsletter.

    Reply
    • Susan Jarvis Bryant

      Roy, thank you very much indeed. I’m glad you enjoyed the closing couplet… it says it all for me, and I’m with you on his treatment of Princess Diana.. he cared for his ex-wife as much as he cares for the planet. Thank you too for purchasing my books. I really appreciate your support… I hope you enjoy them as much as I enjoyed compiling them.

      Reply
  4. Joseph S. Salemi

    The big red flag for me was when Charles announced that he was changing the title “Defender of the Faith” to the more nebulous “Defender of Faith.” This is pure ecumenical arse-kissing.

    Reply
    • Susan Jarvis Bryant

      Joe, thank you for your astute observation. There are 80 Sharia courts (and rising) in Great Britain. It seems to me that King Charles III is very happy to assist in the cruel suppression of women on his own shores even though they’re British citizens. Shame on him!

      Reply
      • Joshua C. Frank

        Yes, suppression by Islam on one side, and suppression by feminism on the other.

    • Mike Bryant

      I’m afraid King Charles III is faithful to the World Economic Forum. I wonder if he knows how little faith they have in him.

      Reply
    • Joshua C. Frank

      Wow, I didn’t know that! Thank you. That tells me everything I need to know about him.

      Reply
  5. Paul Martin Freeman

    And if I may be permitted to explicate the significance of your title as it may not have got through US Customs. On the surface it means “a proper and properly regal” coronation. But for Brits it also means “really awful”.

    I guess that’s what you intended!

    Reply
    • Susan Jarvis Bryant

      Paul, you are spot on – “really awful” is my message.

      Reply
  6. Paul Freeman

    Yes, we all wish the King well.

    Fortunately, we’ll have a King who cares for the planet he shares with billions of others, just like our national treasure Sir David Attenborough.

    If only everyone recognised the dangers.

    Reply
    • Paul Martin Freeman

      Yes, we do wish him well and we should care for the planet. But my point is that we seem to have arrived at a time when no other kind of king than the problematic one of Susan’s final lines and of Dr Salemi is possible. And that should trouble us.

      Reply
    • Mike Bryant

      Here are the official recorded earth average temperatures:

      https://wattsupwiththat.com/uah-version-6/

      Look at the last (fourth) graph. That is what the average temperature of God’s green Earth looks like on your own garden thermometer. Where, really, where is this danger you speak of?

      Reply
      • Mike Bryant

        It is funny that the climate scientists decided to look at temperature anomaly graphs in hundredths of a degree and without a zero point… it’s like a doctor doing your annual exam with an electron microscope.

    • Paul Martin Freeman

      The Attenborough: A National Treasure
      (for Paul with apologies to Susan for trespassing on her page)

      The Attenborough’s an engaging creature:
      He studies fellow beings round the globe.
      On Everest perhaps he’ll do a feature,
      Or else the bottom of the ocean probe.

      Yet how he travels is an utter mystery:
      He has no wings or tail to fly or swim.
      But he’s the kindly face of natural history,
      And much of what we know we owe to him.

      Reply
      • Susan Jarvis Bryant

        Paul Martin Freeman, no apologies needed… I love it.

    • Susan Jarvis Bryant

      Paul Freeman – I do wish the King well… I hope he recovers from his insidious idiocy soon. He cares as much for the planet as Bill Gates and Dr. Fauci care for our health. He appears to be erecting his own guillotine. Buckingham Palace will soon become a shelter for the homeless if he continues on his virtue-signaling, let-them-eat-crickets path while he jets around the world trying to save the planet from the polluting breath of we the plebs.

      Reply
    • Joshua C. Frank

      Paul, I don’t understand why you have to inject your leftist views into every comment you make on poems in a right-wing poetry journal.

      This time, I’m not being hostile. I genuinely don’t understand what the purpose is, when we’re not going to change our minds because some guy online tells us to. You’re as much living proof of that as we are (not meant to be offensive, that’s just how all of us are).

      Back to debate mode: it seems to me that the more a person “cares for the planet,” the less he cares for the children who populate it.

      Reply
      • Joseph S. Salemi

        Joshua, “caring for the planet” is just leftist code-speak for killing as many people as possible through laboratory-engineered viruses and fake vaccines, unlimited abortion, and the suppression of birth via the celebration of faggotry, drag-queens, and trannie-mania.

      • Joshua C. Frank

        Yes, I’m aware of that. That point was for Paul. When anyone claims to care for the planet, I know I’m talking with the wrong kind of person.

      • Paul Martin Freeman

        Leftist don’t support the monarchy. They hate it. That would make Paul one of the few determinedly non-leftists commenting here!

        It’s complicated, Joshua!

  7. Norma Pain

    Thank you for this most welcome sonnet Susan. I’ve never really appreciated all of the pomp and pageantry of the royal family. I grew up with it but mostly ignored it all. King who?!!

    Reply
    • Susan Jarvis Bryant

      Norma, “King who?!!” – exactly. This feeling is new to me, so it pleases me to hear I’m not alone. It’s always lovely to hear from you, especially today… my Union Jacks will remain in the bottom drawer… the Champagne will flow… I need a Magnum for medicinal purposes.

      Reply
    • Susan Jarvis Bryant

      Rohini, thank you! What a wonderful compliment… I think I was born to “entertain and provoke”. To do so with “equal finesse” has made my pre-coronation evening much, much happier.

      Reply
  8. Brian A Yapko

    Time is pressing on me severely, Susan, but I still must take a minute to let you know how much I love this poem and your urgent warning to such a magnanimously ecumenical and enlightened king. How wonderful that he defends faith. Any faith. Any and all faith. Or perhaps no faith at all. To have the supreme governor of the Church of England and the Anglican communion reduce the church to a platitude is distressing. I’m glad to be on this side of the pond. And one final dig: when you try to be everything to everybody you end up being nothing.

    Reply
    • Susan Jarvis Bryant

      Brian, thank you very much indeed! Your comment says it all… and this is exactly why those who are blessed with your insight are feeling queasy and decidedly uneasy about the coronation of King Charles III. His all-embracing attitude surrounding faith, when he is the supreme governor of the Church of England, leaves Great Britain not only powerless but the promoter of misogyny , racism, and tyranny. That’s why I’m not lauding and applauding this historic event tomorrow. I only hope I’ve manage to express how utterly disappointed I am at a monarchy that is aiding and abetting the atrocities inflicted by governments who do not have their people’s interests at heart.

      Reply
  9. Joshua C. Frank

    Love it! Everything I know about British politics comes from your poetry, but from what you’ve written, this guy sounds really bad. I assume that’s what you set out to do.

    Reply
    • Susan Jarvis Bryant

      Thank you, Josh. I know this will sound strange, but I am saddened by Charles. I don’t know whether he’s misguided, malfeasant, or a moron. I have always had an affection for the royal family. I grew up with them on my doorstep, and my grandparents had great respect for Queen Elizabeth II, especially during WWII. I don’t want to portray him as a bad guy… but I simply cannot embrace his causes… especially when they’re at the expense of the British citizens. I’m going for ‘moron’… simply because it’s the kindest view of a man who is digging a grave for his children and grandchildren. Those who promote reparations and equity don’t tolerate a monarchy. My best advice to him would be to read about William Wilberforce… he might not feel the need to kowtow to those who want to rip the red carpet from under his regal feet when he learns that Britain isn’t as bad as he thinks she is. Or perhaps he’s trying to avoid the same ends of his relative, Tsar Nicholas, by kissing the the boots of the WEF. This is a sad time for me and many others, I’m certain.

      Reply
      • Joseph S. Salemi

        Many years ago, Charles had my respect when he courageously supported traditional architecture and spoke out against the post-modernist garbage that was slowly defacing the English scene. He endured a firestorm of vicious criticism for daring to do so, and perhaps it convinced him that he had to kowtow to left-liberal vermin if he was going to have any peace at all. Hence the slavish virtue-signalling and leftish pietistic pronouncements.

      • Susan Jarvis Bryant

        Joe, you could well be right. I too championed his traditional-architecture views and the response may have left him traumatized. He may think his virtue signaling and kowtowing to the agenda of the new world order might secure the future of his offspring… but, surely he’s brighter than that… surely?! I believe the royal family is condemned from every angle… if I were Charles, I’d rather go out with my integrity intact, but who am I to judge what’s in the new king’s heart? I can only judge him by his actions, and I cannot stand behind his vision. That’s why I can’t celebrate tomorrow… I say this with a heavy heart.

  10. Monika Cooper

    A Benedictine priest I knew lived in a monastery that continued the tradition of table reading at meals. He said there were other monasteries that chucked the tradition sometime in the chaos post-Vatican II and now many of them wanted it back. But once something has been cancelled restoration isn’t always simple. Institutions can be fragile, and the people who represent them even more so, so handle with care. As a Catholic and an American, I say God save the British monarchy and God save the King, and I say it with all of my heart.

    Reply
    • Susan Jarvis Bryant

      Monika, thank you very much for your interesting comment and your words of caution which I fully appreciate. I fear the newly anointed King will abolish himself if he continues on his path of reinterpreting Britain’s history and paving the way for a totalitarian future… hence, my poem. I believe in speaking out while we still have the last shreds of freedom left to do so. I believe the voices that point out the errors of huge figures of global influence have a chance of making a difference. I believe we are securing our downfall by ignoring rogue deeds that are to the detriment of humankind. King Charles III is following in his father’s footsteps. The Duke of Edinburgh announced he “… would like to return as a deadly virus, to contribute something to solving overpopulation.” The teachings of the WEF are that virus and the new king is pushing their agenda. That virus is infecting the globe. I have deep respect for my homeland, its culture and traditions, but I cannot remain silent.

      Reply
      • Susan Jarvis Bryant

        I would like to add: God save the British monarchy, God save the King and God save us all. This is a turbulent and troubling time in our history.

      • Monika Cooper

        I do hear you about the WEF. Theirs is a sick program. I wonder what their apparent hold on the new king is.

        I don’t want you to be silent. We’re all seeing some of the same things (this *is* a turbulent and troubling time). I don’t cheer King Charles’s alliance with the WEF but today I see him less as their pawn or player and more as a representative of something much bigger and more wonderful than they are, something I hope will outlast them and see authentic restoration in the coming days and years. Something I do cheer for and see in your comment below that you do too.

        King Charles and all of us have decisions ahead. God help us make good ones.

      • Monika Cooper

        Thank you for bearing with me and for your very thoughtful reply: for both of your replies.

      • Susan Jarvis Bryant

        Monika, this is what I love about this comments section. The exchange of ideas often leads me to view a subject from a different angle, and with it comes knowledge. I had feelings within me I couldn’t understand… until I read these words: “Institutions can be fragile, and the people who represent them even more so, so handle with care.” All day those words challenged me… I wanted to be honest in my poem… but, something was missing. Your words helped me to define it in my follow up poem, and they brought me a sense of peace for which I am most grateful. Monika, thank you!

  11. Mike Bryant

    https://archive.org/details/communist_goals_1963_cong_record/mode/2up

    These totalitarian goals were read into the congressional record in 1963. Of course, it’s a list of what they had already accomplished in the Soviet Union and then in Germany. Germany took Communism and merged it with Big Business. Joe Kennedy was our ambassador to Germany before WWII, and when he came back he began to spread the big idea that the Nazis had everything just about right. We brought the German masterminds into our Universities and our Government right after WW II. The Western World was so far along the way by the 50s that Ike felt compelled to warn us about the Military Industrial Complex and the Science/Medicine Complex in his farewell speech.
    The new paradigm, corporate/government lockstep cooperation, is the most efficient way to run a tyranny. This big idea has now become the instrument for destroying all vestiges of Freedom and Tradition in every Church, State and Business Worldwide.

    Those goals that worked to destroy Tsarism, Tradition and Religion in Russia, worked even better for the Nazis, for a time. Now, Corporate/State Cooperation tyrannies are taking over the world, most notably in China.

    Communism begat Naziism. The World Economic Forum has honed Nazism (Corporate/State Cooperation) into a weapon for World Tyranny. The WEF is no friend of the Monarchy, Religion or Freedom.

    King Charles III and the WEF:

    https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2020/11/prince-charles-the-10-actions-we-must-take-to-tackle-climate-change/

    Reply
    • Joshua C. Frank

      Mike, thank you for the link to the Communist goals! Looking at that list, it’s clear that while the Communists didn’t win the Cold War in terms of military and economic victory, they’ve won in every other way.

      The so-called “free world” has fallen to Communism 2.0, full-scale cultural Marxism, to the point where even the term “cultural Marxism” has been branded as an anti-Semitic conspiracy theory in Wikipedia.

      2014: https://web.archive.org/web/20140102001635/https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cultural_Marxism
      2023: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cultural_Marxism_conspiracy_theory

      It used to say: “In current politics, the term has also been associated by Conservatives with a set of values that, it is claimed, are in simple contradiction with traditional values of Western society and Christian religion. Undermining these is believed to be the true purpose of Political correctness and Multiculturalism, which are then identified with Cultural Marxism.”
      Now it says: “The term “Cultural Marxism” refers to a far-right antisemitic conspiracy theory which claims that Western Marxism is the basis of continuing academic and intellectual efforts to subvert Western culture.”

      Also of note: in the book The Benedict Option, the author mentions that Polish Christians, who kept their faith throughout Communist rule, lost their faith once capitalism took over.

      Reply
      • Joseph S. Salemi

        The left fears the phrase “cultural Marxism” because it is so very apt as a description of what they are promoting world-wide. Old fashioned Marxism of the political sort may be shopworn and quaint in the eyes of many, but the notion of a carefully planned and funded cultural tsunami that sweeps away all inherited traditions and religious sanctions is now the center of a new belief-system and ideology — an ideology that is deeply felt and dangerously fanatical.

        Most people yawn when they read about the Communist International, the Popular Front, the Five-Year-Plan, or the Dictatorship of the Proletariat. Marx, Lenin, Trotsky, and Stalin are just history-book references to them. But they get irrationally joyful about new pronouns, environmentalism, LGBT freakiness, gender feminism, trannies, E.U. tyranny, BLM, Antifa, corporate wokeness, and cancelling the First Amendment. The Great Reset and the Great Replacement are their hallowed visions of the Promised Land

        This is a NEW RELIGION. It has its saints, it martyrs, its holidays, its sacred scriptures, its long lists of prohibitions, its specially approved vocabularies, its Inquisition, and its demonology. It is being promoted today with as much energy and activism as any religion in the early formative stages.

        And like all new sects, cultural Marxism tries to pretend to be something other than what it is. It presents itself as that which is reasonable, that which is desirable, that which is naturally required, and that which is “decent” and “moral” — the rejection of which marks one as a damnable reprobate.

  12. Jeff Eardley

    Susan, just a festival of folk marching about, bizarre rituals and an outdated celebration of lording it over others. Royal weddings tended to cheers us, but this, under drizzly skies, was a huge yawn festival. Now begins an endless period of talking about it, which is my cue to dig into your books arriving tomorrow. Love the titles and hope you finally achieve the recognition you so richly deserve. All the best from over here.

    Reply
    • Susan Jarvis Bryant

      Jeff, I have to confess… I couldn’t resist watching and as I did, my heart flew back to London stuffed full of patriotic memories and I gazed at the TV screen wistfully. King Charles III’s outlook worries me… but I don’t want the monarchy to fizzle out and die. Judging by the packed streets, I think a lot of Brits feel the same. What strange and confusing times we live in… I think the dull and drizzly skies were the perfect background for those feelings… poetic almost.

      I’m over the moon my books arrive today… I hope they make excellent coasters for your cuppas. 😉 Seriously, thank you very much for your support. It means a lot!

      Reply
  13. Mary Gardner

    Susan, thank you for your well-constructed and heartfelt sonnet. However, please understand that there is a mystique about Great Britain and its monarchy that fills a yearning, yawning gap for some of us Americans – the glory, the pageantry that we don’t have on this side of the Atlantic. The solemn, respectful, holy ceremony lifted us briefly out of our quotidian existence and ennobled us. God save the King, and God bless Great Britain.

    Reply
    • Susan Jarvis Bryant

      Mary, thank you very much for your beautiful and honest comment… and, I have to say I’m with you. I watched yesterday’s ceremony with a brimming heart. God save the King, and God bless Great Britain, indeed!

      Reply

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