I
loved
English
history.
Tudors and Stuarts
ruled over the curriculum
at the old-fashioned boarding school in a country town
where I was sent when I was seven and where I learnt to live in my head with my thoughts.
The old house hid behind poplar trees and high brick walls
floorboards creaked at night
dead monarchs
patrolled
my
dreams.

I
made
them sing.
Anne Boleyn
Anna Bolena
Henry the eighth was Enrico
Jane Seymour's name was Giovanna Se-i-mu-ra.
English Tudors sang Italian on my first school trip to an opera house
Bolena was a Turkish dramatic soprano
Enrico came from Ascoli
bel canto royals,
usurpers,
dethroned
our
kings.

I
won
a prize
every year
the History Cup
but always came bottom in maths
I could recite the order of English kings and queens but never remember their dates.
It was Donizetti and dormitory nightmares
they taught me not to trust monarchs
vain tabloid princes
class war snobs
kings who
don't
sing.