Corday

RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: HISTORY

 

Corday

 

The nights were long and trying

The world was strange and cold

The order of things was dying

Like a cartwheel grown too old

Upon this scene a ghostly shadow

Who found each footstep trying

As the days gave way to nighttime

As the nights gave way to day

There came the spirit of a deadly thing

Her name was Charlotte Corday

 

They let her pass the city walls

Let her through the city gates

I’ve come to serve the cause, she said

I’ve come to seal my fate

The night was eerie strange and gray

The hour dark and late

She paused to take the moment in

But the moment would not wait

 

Who are you? said Marat

Through his fever twisted mind

Have you come to give me comfort?

Are you a spirit soft and kind?

I’m not that kind of spirit

I must ask you: Are you blind?

I come with dagger hidden

This moment to unwind

It is you Marat I’ve come to slay

What ghost is at my side? he asked

My name is Charlotte Corday

 

I’ve seen the bodies of the dead

I’ve seen what you have wrought

I’ve seen a pile of severed heads

Is this the world you’ve sought?

You’ve left us with no mystery

I’ve come to play my part

My name is etched in history

A dagger to your heart

 

A century or more from now

They’ll remember this fateful day

A fevered madman named Marat

An assassin named Corday

 

(regards to Peter Weiss & Percy Shelly)