A Prince Visits Iqaluit - May 19 2022

 

A Prince Visits Iqaluit

May 19 2022

The man who will be king

is touring our country

with the usual entourage.

The ceremony and pomp

have been kept to a minimum

as befits a modern monarchy.

Nevertheless, there are ribbons to cut

and hands that need shaking,

earnest speeches

fancy hats

photo-ops.

But we are reluctant monarchists

if not decided republicans,

despite our grudging love

of a gracefully aging Queen.

We believe all people are equal,

get mildly miffed

at royal airs.

Because how does the accident of birth

make him any more special?

We are frugal, as well;

resenting the spending

that keeps him in style,

while we're pinching pennies

and squeezing dimes,

shivering

to save on heat.

Such a privileged life

at taxpayers' expense

(never mind

that this overseas Dominion

gets a free ride.)

And he really isn't one of us, is he?

A Brit

who speaks plummy English

and drives on the left.

But there is much to be said

for institutions that endure.

For history, tradition

and dutiful service.

For a stiff upper lip

in the face of the critics,

forbearance before

a scandal-mongering press.

And do we really want the politicians

left in ultimate charge,

mediocre blowhards

who also aren't like us?

These are the ones

who slid their way up

the greasy pole of power,

an unbecoming ambition

I find suspicious, at best.

Wouldn't even the fiction

of a higher power

embodying the sovereignty of the people at large

be better than that?

And anyway, who wants to be a Republic

like the fractious place to our south?

I'd rather be unique

and a little fusty,

grounded in something

that has endured over time.

So God save the Queen.

And have pity for Charles;

a Prince in waiting

who may lack the common touch,

but means well

and has waited long enough.

I'm an enthusiastic monarchist. Perhaps this poem helps explain why. Both why I'm enthusiastic, and why we are a fast decreasing minority. The rest are either uninterested, reluctant, or decided republicans. The thing is, it has nothing to do with the individual; it's all about the institution. And I hardly see the office as privileged. Rather, it's mostly about duty. And a highly unpleasant and undesirable one, at that. At least it would be for me.

Charles and Camilla are actually stopping in Yellowknife. It's just that Iqaluit sounds so much better in that sentence! So my apologies to the good people of NWT capital. The thing is, from way down here in the self-regarding and geographically challenged south, they could just as well be the same place.