The Widow of Windsor

In unfamiliar black attired

Dead silence as the cannon fired

Windsor - shorn of foreign Press,

The Duke, who hated fuss, is blessed!

 

Neat lawn resounds with guardsmen’s paces

Subdued in grief, just thirty faces

“Jerusalem” moves heart and mind

And that Scottish piper was sublime …

 

Sober prayers from Windsor’s Dean

And the Archbishop – for the Queen

Who, both Head of Church and State,

Mourns the loss of lifetime mate.

 

Lone white bouquet, her last sad prize,

With Philip’s sword, on coffin lies

Poignant chapel choir farewell

Clockwork protocol, done well.

 

Outside, in sunlight, quiet discourse

No microphones, all seems unforced

The Family and the Firm united

On such a day much can be righted…

(c) Poet in the woods 2021

Funeral of Philip Duke of Edinburgh on 17th April, 2021 

at St. George's Chapel, Windsor