The Two-Headed Eagle. Poem by Sandra Kavanagh Josefsson

As I lay here and hold your hand,
the morning has, but come.
I wish our time could be longer,
but it cannot be undone.

You sleep so softly.
Let me look upon your face.
Let me remember your beauty,
before they take me from this place.

Let me remember our last dance,
And us swirling on the floor.
Let me remember Marie,
All the promises we swore.

How I, an Emperors son fell
in love,
With a girl of 17, a baroness,
with the innocence of a dove.

And so history was changed,
just within one night.
The Holy Roman Empire,
was not aware of its plight.

The two-headed eagle would lose
once again,
In 1914 by an assassins hand.
Two would be slaughtered
by one from another land.

Who knows what may have been,
If love was allowed to win.
But I am sure those two souls,
are happy wandering together at Mayerling.

Verse: Sandra Kavanagh (c) .20220127
Based on the Film Mayerling 1936 about Crown Prince Rudolf of Austria and Baroness Marie Vetsera.