How tiring it was for the women,
his constant talking at them,
the axioms, the unasked for advice.
Even the queen was lectured to,
told what to do, eavesdropped on.
Although she could never admit it,
a part of her must have been relieved
when her son stabbed him. Finally,
silence, or there would be once
the men finished killing each other.
A faculty member at the University of North Carolina School of the Arts, Joseph Mills holds an endowed chair, the Susan Burress Wall Distinguished Professorship in the Humanities. He has published four collections of poetry with Press 53. His fifth collection, This Miraculous Turning, will be released in September 2014. More information is available at www.josephrobertmills.com and he blogs regularly at www.josephrobertmills.blogspot.com.