Pure Brilliant Ultra
A long time ago there was queen and her king
who lived in Pure Brilliant Ultra.
Their land was made of Ash, Chalk and Wishbone
their palace Cool with Jade, Marble and Alabaster.
Linnets sang in the Blossom of Almond
and Nutmeg trees, as their favorite Goose nibbled
Primroses and Violets in the Apple orchard Mist.
The queen admired Edelweiss and Apricots, but knew
these would not thrive, so she chose Daffodils,
Jasmine and Fennel for her walled garden.
Orchids and Vanilla she imported, Cornflowers
she seeded in the Barley fields.
The king was more Metal: Lead and Panel
yet he had his soft side. His rooms
were Voiled with Cotton and Chiffon
his Handkerchiefs always Linen.
They travelled, preferring the Chilterns to
Rome, Wiltshire to Greece, York to Sweden
India to China, Absolutely always
taking with them their own Piano.
Kate Noakes’ seventh poetry collection is The Filthy Quiet, Parthian, 2019. She has Non-Fiction forthcoming from Seren: Real Hay-on-Wye (2020) and her website is archived by the National Library of Wales boomslangpoetry.blogspot.com