Poetry by Norbert Hirschhorn
The Prologue
Once upon a time, a young woman—beautiful, good, true—lived in a forest hut with her poor but honest parents. One day, a Prince came by on horseback & looking out for a bit of mischief, began to court her. Her parents, knowing what could come, tried to talk sense: We’re beneath his station, he’ll break your heart, we need you here, & so forth. But she was ecstatic; it had never happened before, probably would never again. You see, although she was lovely, virtuous, etc., she had a deformity, tuberculosis of the spine from childhood. But she was too happy to think clearly, & the Prince, perhaps a little in love, appeared not to notice. One day he rode up to the little hut saying, Get yourself ready, I want to introduce you to the King and Queen. Her parents, wanting only her happiness, sold their cow, pawned their dishes, mortgaged their little plot so she could wear something decorous, lovely for the meeting. But only one thing, said the Prince. Yes, darling, anything, she replied. When we enter the Royal Court, try to stand up straight.
The Voices
The Young Woman’s Parents (a duet): We were idiots to think this could even be. All that time we deliberately stayed in the forest, away from people, so our daughter would never have cause to be unhappy.
The King: Reginald disappoints. A gadabout, he has never buckled down to study statecraft and the arts of war. So, when he announced he had been taken in by this opportunist with her mincing gait, I was ready to disinherit the fool, send him out of the Kingdom.
The Queen: He is a good son. Headstrong like his father, but a romantic like me. Perhaps it was something about the zephyrs, the honeysuckle, forest trails surprising at each turn. When the King courted me, I too was cloistered, shy, worshipful. I would have liked to have met this young innocent.
The Prince: So imagine how I felt! Well, she was sweet. I thought she was just being humble, not a hunchback. I’d never hear the end of it from my mates, never mind all the goosey gossip. I had some gold coins sent over.
The Young Woman: It was a dream, and so it sweetened my life. I know no one lives happily ever after, especially not in a castle. But if the King had condemned him to exile, I would have gone with him. My parents and I are moving deeper into the forest.
Norbert Hirschhorn is a public health physician, commended by President Bill Clinton as an “American Health Hero,” proud to follow in the tradition of physician-poets. Hirschhorn has published seven previous collections; recently Over the Edge from Holland Park Press, London. Visit https://bertzpoet.com.
