from Shakespeare Variations
The Mistress of Cawdor
Her determined hand feels the stones.
Their strength is in the coldness,
or so she has learned from life.
She has sought the life of stones
with walls to defend her ambition.
From the castle keep the view is long,
as wide as the world itself,
or so it may seem at sunrise.
Early she wakes to seize the time.
Someone will die today
within sight of the crown.
Even now the echo is a scream,
clearly heard, like the wind
that stirs the trees to move closer.
Geoffrey Heptonstall is a poetry reviewer for The London Magazine, and writes regular commentaries on politics and culture for Open Democracy. Recent creative work includes work with several fringe theatre companies, as well as a regular stock of poetry, fiction and essays.