She Walks the Land Remembering by Arlene Bailey

 

Painting by Molly Roberts

In the stillness of the night
you can hear her calling
Like a wraith raised from the dead,
her bloody sword held high,
she walks the land

Stripped of her title, her King
and Consort murdered,
daughters violated, this Queen
walks that which once held
her and her family, the land
that once held the great
Tribe of the Iceni

She walks remembering...

Before Rome came claiming
ownership as the new rulers
of the place she’d called home,
the place her ancestors called home
before the conqueror came bringing
oppression to all she held dear

Remembering...

When the land held her and her family
giving them all that they needed
The same land that flowed red
with the blood of the conqueror,

The land that flowed red with
the blood of her brave tribe
The Iceni now only a memory

Remembering...

How they beat her and raped her daughters
The rage she felt and the conviction that
she had lived on her own terms,
fought on her own terms,
and By Goddess,
she would die on her own terms

But first she would lay waste
to all they held precious, to
their sons and daughters,
their beloveds, their precious

Londinium, usurped and raped
of all former cultural ways
and traditions of the Britons,
Now a prize of the oppressors

She laughed as she watched
this now Roman city burn,
cursing their kind for laying
waste to all that she knew,
all she had known

Laughed as she laid waste to the
mighty Roman Army, the invaders,
their legions fearing her as they
heard her blood-curdling cry and
felt the pierce of her sword

Nothing left in the end but
the myths of her time
and the story of the
Warrior Queen of the Iceni

Nothing left but the nights
she walks the land, seeing
the battles in her mind,
the blood flowing

Her sword held high as
she holds the reins of the
horses, driving her chariot
toward the battle for
Sovereignty and Dignity

Her daughters beside her,
fighting for the ways of the Iceni,
fighting for the ways of all Celtic
tribes and indeed all of Briton,
she willingly offered her life knowing
she would never submit to
Roman occupation or oppression

Knowing that the conquerors did
not win, for they could not catch her,
nor find her or her daughters to
torture and then parade about
as some prize for all to see

She walks the land knowing,
Remembering that she stood
her ground fighting to protect
what was hers,
fighting to end oppression,
standing always in her
sovereignty and power

and, yet, wondering...

What did it all matter?

Did it matter?

Does anyone even know or
remember her name?

~*~*~*~*~

Ahhhh, Yes, Boudicca,
Queen of the Iceni,
You ARE remembered
Your heroic actions held
in the annals of time
Your story told over and over

The story of the woman
who became the Legend,
the story of Boudicca,
Warrior Queen of the Iceni

You who once brought together
the disparate tribes of the Celts,
harnessing their power as
you created an army so fierce
that your very name drove fear
into the Romans

You who now comes to us from
beyond the Veil whenever we call,
with sword in hand offering whatever
we need to battle oppression and
stand in the sovereignty of the self

You who offers up the call of battle
for the displaced, the disparate,
the ones who stand against tyranny
and oppression at all costs

We, the women far from your time,
Remember!

We, the women in our time,
Fight!

And

We the women of the now,
standing strong, our battle cry
heard far and wide,
will never, ever, Surrender!

So Rest Well Warrior Queen
for the world does indeed know
your story and as we stand in
Sovereignty, raising our swords
against the oppressors, our cry will
always be...

Hail the Warrior Queen of the
Great Tribe of the Iceni,
She with mighty sword and
Blood-curdling cry,

Hail Boudicca!

Hail Boudicca!

Hail Boudicca!

To you, great Warrior Queen,
we remember and we bow.

____________________________

Arlene Bailey, ©2021

An excerpt from the upcoming Girl God anthology, In Defiance of Oppression -The Legacy of Boudicca.

Arlene Bailey is a visionary artist and author working in the realm of the Sacred Female in all her many visages. Arlene’s paintings and poetry/prose reflect the raw, visceral and sacred wild in all women, while challenging and questioning everything we know to be true about the who of who we are as women walking in this time.

Through her magical weavings in word and paint—and, drawing on her trainings and skills as an Ordained Priestess, Women’s Mysteries Facilitator, Wise Woman Herbalist, Energy Medicine Practitioner and Retired Anthropologist—Arlene invites women to step into personal sovereignty as they listen to their ancient memories and voice of their soul.

Published in several Girl God Books’ anthologies, Arlene is also a monthly contributor to Return to Mago E-Magazine and has writings in two forthcoming Mago anthologies. Her work can also be found on The Sacred Wild, a page on Facebook about re-wilding woman’s soul.

Along with her partner and five cats, this Wild Crone lives on 18 acres of deep woods and quartz outcroppings in the Uwharrie Mountains of North Carolina, USA.

www.facebook.com/sacredwildstudio
www.instagram.com/arlenebaileyartist
www.magobooks.com
www.magoism.net