The Departure of the Queen of Sheba

Odd – perhaps not? – that Handel should hymn your arrival,

all hustle and flurry,

spreading of treasures and doors flung wide,

when all the time the true surprise

is not that you arrived, but that you left.

You left this man

for whom unnumbered women gave their eye teeth,

and much more besides.

You left this man

- astonishing in his glory,

like no other king on earth.

You left him.

Packed your bags,

rolled your silks,

furled your banners,

closed the palace doors behind you.

This is truly music-worthy.

You went home.

Only one who rules her own land

would have had the nerve.

1999