Grand Duchess Anastasia Nikolaevna of Russia

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Australian poet, Covid-19 lock-down, Formal poetry, Grand Duchess Anastasia Nikolaevna of Russia, poem, poetry, Queensland border closure, Queensland Premier Anastasia Palaszczuk, sonnet, Spenserian sonnet

𝐀𝐧𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐬𝐢𝐚

Some names should be reserved for only one;
And Anastasia is just such a name.
Her beauty blighted by the tyrant’s gun,
A legendary figure she became.
The forces of the Left of course to blame
For such a monstrous crime — a cruel blow.
Snuffed out, this brightly burning royal flame;
The flowers of youth buried beneath the snow —
Her and her kin all slaughtered by the foe.

Now what of this pretender on her throne?
This accidental leader of the low?
If she’s a heart, then it is made of stone.
A bat straight out of Hell now wears the label,
Of the Grand Duchess from a Russian fable.

— D.N. O’Brien