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An Unexpected Smile

inspired by the coronation of King Charles III 

Today I woke before the sun had spread
Her golden grin across the Texas skies.
With childlike zest and joy I leapt from bed
To cram my Kentish heart and flood my eyes
With coronation scenes from streets I know—
Grand streets that speak of days I won’t forget.
My TV shone with history’s stately glow
Of pageantry and throngs of people set
To celebrate with zeal. I watched with pride
In spite of my dislike of Charles’s creed.
I cannot cast my heritage aside—
It surges through the British blood I bleed.
My buoyant heart took flight. I felt it sing.
This moment was far bigger than a king.

.

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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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35 Responses

  1. Susan Jarvis Bryant

    This poem was also inspired by the words of Monika Cooper on yesterday’s poem ‘A Right Royal Coronation’: “Institutions can be fragile, and the people who represent them even more so, so handle with care.” While I may not agree with the politics of King Charles III, I respect my homeland and my heritage. I want Great Britain and the monarchy to thrive.

    Reply
    • Monika Cooper

      There’s a smile on my face too now, reading this poem and this comment. Yesterday was one of those rare occasions I wished we had TV. I’m thinking I might need to try writing an English sonnet to commemorate the occasion too, here in the one-time colonies 🙂

      Thank you, Susan!

      Reply
    • Monika Cooper

      “This moment was far bigger than a king.” Yes. There’s something about monarchy that transcends the political, even though nothing really seems to escape it. These days I never tire of contemplating the mystery of kingship and its many facets. When I wrote that comment, I had Shaun Duncan’s poem on “The Glass Delusion of King Charles VI of France” in mind.

      Ephraim of Syria writes about the mystery of a pearl, that it seems to be all faces. And that seems to be case with the mystery of kingship: all faces. Every king and queen has a face, some of them watery with distance in time, all unfathomable.

      Britain has a unique place in the ancestral memory of the world and is keeping this mystery of monarchy alive for the rest of us. The phenomenon of nation’s three long-reigning queens is particularly fascinating to me: the realm really seems to have thrived under female leadership in a mysterious way. It was one thing that impressed me in my recent reading of Kipling: how those fighting men in his poems honored their Queen! With unromantic but unwavering love and manly devotion, to their sovereign and the Empire she held together — she and they both. Inspiring.

      Reply
      • James Sale

        Yes, thanks Susan – certainly a poem to raise the spirits which, along with the coronation, need raising as we are at such a low at the moment, and so undermined by internal forces. But I am also intrigued by Monika’s well-informed comments. England – if we may take the historical view that precedes the Union – does have a special relationship with queens which does seem wholly unlike any other nation. It’s not just the longevity of the three great ones she alludes to (and let’s not forget, Elizabeth I was Spenser’s Fairie Queen – and the chivalry of Sir Walter Rayleigh!), but there has been a host of other powerful queens from Matilda in the Norman period, to the wife of Edward II, Isabella of France, and not to mention the strange curiosity of the joint sovereignty (the only time in our history) of William and Mary: Mary was equal sovereign with William, and this remarkable period ushered in the Enlightenment, the Union, and the mercantile power of Britain, and the demise of France as the supreme power on the continent.

  2. Sally Cook

    Dear Susan –

    I, too, cherish my British antecedents – particularly those men who signed the Magna Carta. This is a moment in history and I honor the marking or it as well. Thanks for honoring Charles III’s Coronation with one of your excellent poems.

    Reply
    • Susan Jarvis Bryant

      Dear Sally, thank you very much for this comment, and I especially value your mention of the Magna Carta… in our ‘progressive’ world, oh how we’ve regressed since the signing of that charter of English liberties.

      Reply
  3. Paddy Raghunathan

    Susan,

    You capture so well how we all feel about our country (wherever we reside) and its institutions. We can’t but help feel proud, and for some time we even hope. Until the power brokers invariably run the country and its institutions to the ground.

    Nicely done!

    Paddy

    Reply
    • Susan Jarvis Bryant

      Thank you very much, Paddy. How well you convey the dilemma of these dark days. Our hearts swell with pride our heads know should be denied because Western values are teetering on clay feet. I’m glad I tapped into the mood… I had no idea how I was going to feel until I stood in front of my TV screen.

      Reply
  4. Jeff Eardley

    Well done Susan, you echoed my thoughts after the event has passed. They look to be a very happy couple. Let’s wish them health and happiness on this sunny day over here.

    Reply
    • Susan Jarvis Bryant

      Thank you, Jeff. You’re right. It was tough to gauge feelings until fully experiencing the event, and it’s heartening to hear I wasn’t alone in this confusion. I’m glad it’s sunny in the UK… it’s pouring here in Texas. I’m sipping tea as rivulets of rain snake down the windowpane… I relish these English moments. 🙂

      Reply
  5. Roy Eugene Peterson

    As a descendant of the Earl of Warburton on my mother’s side of the family, I still have a mild veneration for the institution of the royal throne. While I am angry with the ascension of this particular gutless king, I can still appreciate the pomp and circumstance. May his reign be short, and we can celebrate with our next “God save the King, Defender of the one true faith!”

    Reply
    • Susan Jarvis Bryant

      Roy, what noble stock you hail from – how interesting. I can appreciate your anger. It’s the big fat lie behind the pious facade that cuts me to the quick. King Charles III is pushing a lie that will result in the death of Great Britain and her customs if he continues with his radical political push. I know this is music to woke ears… it isn’t to mine.

      Reply
  6. Joshua C. Frank

    Beautiful poem, Susan. Given the one you just wrote before this, I can see the conflict between love of country and love of good, and how they war against each other. The British monarchy is really a beautiful thing in itself, something missing from other countries, though the one who occupies the throne right now is a less than savory character, to say the least.

    My favorite lines: “… I watched with pride
    In spite of my dislike of Charles’s creed.
    I cannot cast my heritage aside—
    It surges through the British blood I bleed.”

    I think non-leftists in all Western countries are going through the same conflict. You’ve seen me call out the United States for all kinds of crimes… and yet, there’s my poem “Arlington.” Plus, I had the exact same reaction one time when I walked by a baseball game and the Anthem played.

    Reply
    • Susan Jarvis Bryant

      Josh, thank you very much for this. You’ve hit the nail on the head with your: “I can see the conflict between love of country and love of good, and how they war against each other.” It makes me understand that we are in the middle of a culture war… a war that rages daily… a war in which the enemy wants to rob the Western world of its heritage, while other cultures are encouraged to take pride in theirs. When I saw the crowds of British people waving their flags on the rain-swept streets of London, it made me realize that people aren’t so keen to have their roots poisoned by ideologies that crush the very soul of their customs.

      Reply
  7. Mark Stellinga

    Susan, I’m praying for the widely scattered remnants of traditional, say, 1950s & 60s “Life” to, somehow, and SOON, coagulate to salvage the future of our children from the daunting cultural erosion so long and so well underway. What a hill we MUST climb! No need to encourage you to never give up pitching your wonderfully succinct political no-hitters, I know you never will. (That’s a good thing!) Excellent piece! 🙂

    Reply
    • Susan Jarvis Bryant

      What a lovely thought, Mark. Thank you for your comment. I think those who have experienced the freedoms of bygone times know exactly what’s been lost… and it hurts us to see this new draconian world developing. We certainly have one helluva hill to climb to get out of the pit we’re in… it all starts with keeping the truth alive.

      Reply
    • Susan Jarvis Bryant

      Thank you, Mike. Mr. Oliver has a keen eye on exactly what’s going on and I applaud him for his honesty and his courage.

      Reply
  8. Russel Winick

    Susan, very fine job as always. This reminded me somehow of my old Princess Diana story, which you may appreciate. She came to Chicago in 1996, and visited a hospital which treated some very sick children. A good friend of mine happened to be the pediatric surgeon on call at the time Princess Di visited the ward. The Princess took a liking to a young girl that my friend was caring for. She held her and spoke to her. Afterwards, Princess Di privately asked my friend what that little girl’s prognosis was. My friend explained her illness and added truthfully that she was not expected to live out that week. The Princess’ eyes filled with tears. You can’t fake that.

    Reply
    • Susan Jarvis Bryant

      Thank you very much, Russel, and thank you too for your beautiful story. This is why Princess Diana was known as ‘the people’s princess’.

      Reply
  9. C.B. Anderson

    Most of us here, Susan, want Great Britain to remain great. Some of us wax sentimental when it comes to the land of St. George & St. Andrew, but none of us will put up with hypocrisy or dissimilation. Feelings are real, but real things are what we should be feeling.

    Reply
    • Susan Jarvis Bryant

      Thank you very much, C.B. I appreciate your kind and wise words. In a surreal world that is growing insaner by the day… holding on to what is real has greater significance.

      Reply
  10. Evan Mantyk

    The hip hip hooray with the vast contingent of troops gave me goosebumps. Let’s hope King Charles III rises to his role. Cheers for the poem, Susan!

    Reply
    • Susan Jarvis Bryant

      Evan, thank you! I had goosebumps too… and my feelings took me by surprise. I’m with you all the way… let’s hope King Charles III does rise to his role.

      Reply
  11. Monika Cooper

    Or perhaps I’ll just let your new sonnet speak for both of us. This coronation is giving me, as they say, all the feels and brave new thoughts as well.

    Reply
    • Susan Jarvis Bryant

      Monika, my heart and head have been on a long and enlightening journey over this coronation period… and I have arrived at a place of peace. Thank you for joining me on my journey.

      Reply
  12. Margaret Coats

    Yes, indeed, Susan, the moment was far bigger than the king or the diminutions of it made in his name. He deserves credit for preservation of some elements, but the sacred place and the centuries of time and the history behind the rite overwhelmed all else, along with the loyalty of yourself and others to the continuity of tradition focused on the man chosen by his heritage to take up kingship. You express it well.

    Reply
    • Susan Jarvis Bryant

      Margaret, thank you very much for this. You sum up the significance of the coronation beautifully.

      Reply
  13. Joseph S. Salemi

    Whatever my personal opinions are of King Charles and his views, I say this with everyone: GOD SAVE THE KING!

    And Susan’s sonnet puts it perfectly: “This moment was far bigger than a king.” It’s not personal because it is not about an individual person. I say “God save the King!” to honor those countless brave British soldiers who died to defend the Empire.

    And God bless the English race — one of the most precious blossoms ever to grow on the tree of life.

    Reply
    • Susan Jarvis Bryant

      Joe, GOD SAVE THE KING! indeed. Thank you for your wonderful words, especially those on the English race… they’ve brought a tear to my eye. In times when many are all too swift to condemn their homeland and heritage, these words mean a lot.

      Reply
  14. David Whippman

    Susan, thanks for this well-written sonnet. It’s a cliche but it’s true: nobody does pageantry like us Brits!

    Reply
    • Susan Jarvis Bryant

      Thank you very much for this, David… and you are absolutely right on the pageantry front!

      Reply

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