True To My Queen

[From thoughts of letter writing as an admiring 8-year-old boy in 1962.]

To Queen Elizabeth II, our New Zealand Head of State.

Your Majesty, My Queen;
You fill my heart with love and I hope you remember my name.

Of all the Queens that there have been
None have graced the face of the earth
With sovereign beauty and radiance supreme
To compare with that which in your person is seen.

As through the years of commotion I struggle against my foes,
Every breath that wins its place in your correct repose
Refines special meaning to the passage of space and time
And suffers me to be that admiring author who should labour for the Word divine,
The One that comforts us, and rehabilitates our faith sublime.

You expect your loyal subjects to use their gifts and talents,
To be diligent and honest in service to their Queen;
Assuredly not one obsequious toadie or impudent pretender,
Has a clue about the pressures
Which intrude upon your scene.

But always believe, I pray my Queen,
In the event that the flame of my love dies,
Still my beholding heart will be filled
With an earnest love that needs no flame,
As compass true to you, Elizabeth,
I Lord Michael remain.