Despite recent hoopla about the birth of a baby, I’m not convinced it ever makes sense to marry into the Royal Family. Witness this brief history of the marriages of King Henry VIII. Written for Poetic Asides, in senryu form.
Six senryu of Henry VIII
I. Catherine of Aragon
Queen of earthly Queens
ditched after twenty-three years
for someone younger.
II. Anne Boleyn
In less than three years
he had her executed
on trumped-up charges.
III. Jane Seymour
Lady-in-waiting
to Anne, and Henry’s mistress.
Died after childbirth.
IV. Anne of Cleves
Married for six months.
Never even slept with him.
She got off lightly.
V. Catherine Howard
An adulteress?
Like her cousin Anne Boleyn
she soon lost her head.
VI. Catherine Parr
Henry’s third cousin,
put his house in order, and
outlived the bugger.
Penguin Poems 