Glory by the Shore (Sangre Azul)

The afternoon’s tropical island breeze is Laced with salt and a host of aromas From the bazaar that lines the beaches That holds all the flavours and chromas The breeze is rivalled only by the Sun Which bears down all the way to An unassuming hacienda, there’s but one Cracks on its walls and rays shine through These walls have seen the tides They’ve seen winters most desolate Highs and lows, widows and brides And joys crescendoed at the gate They have many stories to tell, As I’m sure you’ve gathered But one particular tale can well Save them from these Spaniards Red flowing robes and dazzling jewels Adorn her quivering young form As she walks through a lawn of fools And the thunder threatens a storm Walk through this velada aeons ago An evening of great pomp and show We’re not at our hacienda, no, But near enough, a princess looks for a beau The spires- high on the castle towers And the Gothic arches from yore, Products of war and clashes of powers, Quietly witness the evening’s lore A man approaches, or were There two? Or three? All the same Bragging to her, the Lord, Knight, Sir They’re all playing the stature game The princess is engaged and they’re chatting Clinks of goblets held above bell sleeves Her rubies glint, as bright as her satin But brighter are her eyes, one perceives Watching her is the gardener’s boy Who’s spoken to her on occasion A mere worker, far from a Viceroy Never dreamt of nearing her station Yet he’s spoken to her. And while These men think themselves clever, He knows the princess and her guile He knows she’s so much better. He’s tidied for tonight, as well, he has, He’s serving the guests some tapas He knew he’d have to match the pizzazz He picked up how to cook gambas Moving around the party presently He stops every now and then Punctuated by her laughs, pleasantly, His evening feels just fine, when His mind having plunged into their Last conversation is now startled- Avoiding a Lord by just a hair, On a Lady, he spills a starter A small furore that, quite luckily, After profuse apology, soon dies He brings his focus back swiftly, He looks away from her eyes The party is over soon enough. Simoneta retires for the night Lying in bed, sleep is rough And dreams resound her plight. Wars and bloodshed are on the shores Decisions have to be made A storm is coming just across the shores And Fate cannot be swayed Alliances are vital, every step counts. Moves of chess were used to explain, To her what the situation mounts; The names of Generals were just too plain What a difficult time Simoneta lived in, Then again, history had a lot of those And no one’s truly pious..or guilty as sin, Just a protagonist in their own prose. What’s right or wrong, she doesn’t know, When she should make a call Where she’ll take a stand, or go Why she’s stuck here at all For years and years now, the boredom The ennui, of her inescapable life And family, though she adored them Had been a source of personal strife Her heart was set, not on conquest But on exploration of the unknown, known; She cared not to protect the Crest But to observe and solve on her own And the curiosity that burned within her Set aflame a constant companion Melancholy that no one was akin her Guilt armed with shame like a batallion She didn’t mean to forsake her people But Lord knows that’s what they thought She would not stand by the steeple But for such heresy she could be caught With uneasy thoughts and revelations Our princess finally drifts to sleep Not foreseeing her future and reparations Not knowing how much they’ll weep Carlos retires as well but much later Long after the guests drink the last drop Weary but his thirst has never been greater For life, and he isn’t the kind to stop He pulls out his books and lights the lantern He gazes at the book Simoneta lent, The ribbing and the curl where the pages turn; He longs to know what the words meant And so he dives into his much simpler books And he knows he’ll read till he’s spent As some pass his corner, he gets the same looks None can shake his lovesick intent Love is simple when you’ve never Loved before, never hurt before It always feels like the easiest forever And Carlos loves like that for sure He loves his books, he loves the pride He feels when he learns something new He loves the chase and he knows inside The princess loves all of it too What a difficult time Carlos lived in, Then again, history had a lot of those The Inquisition was a time bathed in sin And unfortunately the time this story chose When it came, it bathed Spain In the reds of the tomatoes they grew Staining the papal white, a hideous stain Of all the vile heretics they knew Simoneta, now older and still unmarried Is met with coldness and distrust In the midst of it all she is most harried By her people’s desire to be “just” She would be found out and tried This miserable life would end at that Noone would quite be on her side Nothing left here to wonder at Watch as she flees at night Climbing down the balcony then Round the corner and down a flight Of stairs, so close; when She knocks over a lone lantern In the dead of the night Lifted faster than she can turn As his face comes in the light In a moment or two Carlos catches His breath and knows what to say In a minute or two Simoneta latches Onto him as they rush through the grey Not knowing where to go. Not seeing what’s ahead Just knowing what they know Saying what needs to be said In Simoneta’s book there was A moment where the weary man Stopped at a beach at night for pause Together now, that’s where they ran Panting and huffing she reaches The waves as if to meet them, greet them And Carlos asks nothing more of beaches This moment is all he’ll beseech them She turns around as the salty breeze Ruffles through their hair “Wait”, she says and watches him freeze In the cold midnight air Carlos has never felt doubt More than he feels in this moment A thousand things race about In his head and fear they foment “Simoneta, I know why you’re running. And you know that I know, too. We both know they’re still coming.. We may never come back to this view. “Just stay with me here for now Let’s pretend nothing else matters We’ll make do for now somehow I know how to work with tatters. “I know you think you’re alone And this world is no place for you But though I’m far from the throne I’m in your world, and I love you.” They stand in silence, this cold won’t do, This time won’t do; this place too Simoneta is silent, gazing at dark blue Much bluer is her sangre azul Or the blue blood, that they’ve claimed Is flowing through her veins: A symbol of segregation that’s aimed At holding her back in reins Because you can’t tarnish the royal blue By affairs with boys tending gardens The blood would take a lowly hue These dalliances don’t receive pardons But being unpious, because of reason Finding Cause instead of Faith She’s an infidel to her religion And they’re all dealt a similar fate “I know, Carlos, I’ve always known I've enjoyed myself in every walk On those lush gardens you've shown Me what it was like to love a talk. "I admire your hunger, I see truth in your eyes But I'm not getting any younger I can't live any more lies." Simoneta looks away and squints Tears in her eyes, a sick serenity She sees a hut with endearing dints In the dying light; an amenity They retire there for the night Wondering why it's left abandoned They’re awaiting the morning light With a watch for troops commanded To bring her back at all costs And maybe someone will miss Carlos But come dawn, the fear exhausts These young runaways and they doze But no one comes. It’s quiet outside. The sky becomes Dark grey and wide. It rains, it pours, They have to stay Soaking walls and doors Puddles in the way When they leave, it’s in Inconspicuous disguise Where have the troops been? Surely going back is unwise. They decide to make it A home more than a refuge They decide they won’t quit Just deterred by a deluge They patch up the walls, They fix the gate So when night falls, They’ll be in a better state They keep the hearth warm And the princess buys food Before the next storm Their abode is renewed One day in the bazaar Carlos weaves through As he hears from afar What the kingdom’s been upto As he listens he despairs He can’t bear to tell her The horn, it blares He will have to tell her. The tides have turned, they’ve been deposed The king is dead. The storm has come, the case is closed The rest have fled. The peace inside their humble home Oblivious to the fire outside Rained in by indulgent guilt and hope As around it, the kingdom died When she learns, she rues, A vile, bitter regret A weight to carry, who’s Not one to forget What a terrible time they lived in, But history surely has a lot of those As they say, when the fire’s dim , Another little ember is always close They were forgotten, they moved on, Simoneta and Carlos Their previous lives seemed bygone And so were their sorrows The hut is built into a small bungalow Their little children play in the lawns Where anthora and rock roses grow And Carlos cooks his gambas, or prawns The house stays there for generations Of educated young women and men It grows and changes through their creations When they move it’s never lived in again So that’s the story, I have some more To tell of the old glory Of a little house on the shore Please keep them from breaking Down its creaky door Or the cracked walls though they’re flaking Of the little house on the shore.