BY RAY E. LIPINSKI

I sit in this cell, my fate has been set

The priest exits, my confession heard.

My journey to Heaven’s gate begins

The summoner tells me my time has come

It won’t be long now

Some say I deserve this

It is what fate has decreed

But those are voices of the mob

Their opinion stale as the crumbs

Laying on this cold dungeon floor

They are right of course.

I chose poorly in my counsel

Fools and charlatans

Blood being thicker than water

Did not apply to me

If only the Dauphin had lived

I would have been spared

The duplicity of Lord Darnley

The averse of Earl Bothwell

I was the fool

I do not want England

A pompous land filled with

Man whores and half breeds

That put themselves over God

And destroyed a nation

I do not want glories or riches

Or palaces of gold

Or ships bearing my name

Set to founder

I want my fair Scotland

Her purple thistles dancing

Against a backdrop of

Glorious mountains and lochs

Reflecting Gods perfection

I want to serve her people

The strong Highlander

The humble farmer

The noble Laird

One flag, one clan united

To a cousin that did not want me

To a country that did not need me

To a son that will not know me

To the Judas’s that betrayed me

My innocence is your sin

My name will not be forgotten

My dreams will go on

Elizabeth will regret

Not knowing her mind

Turmoil will come to England

Have I been wronged? Yes

And for that I shall wear red

And when the executioner’s axe

Mingles with my blood

They will remember my smile  

History will herald me

A saint and a sinner

But Always upon always

I will always be

Mary Queen of Scots