About this poem

This poem, combining a tanka style with a free verse format, was written partly as a reaction to His Royal Highness Prince Harry of Great Britain, who, along with his wife, the Duchess of Sussex, chose to reside in the United States of America after the birth of their son Archie Mountbatten, and later, their daughter, Lilibet (‘Lili’) Diana; and the lingering controversy surrounding Prince Harry’s love and marriage to an American divorcée, underscored as being a ‘mere commoner,’ mocked harshly by some journalists as their ‘Princess Pinocchio’ in residence or, better yet, their Princess in absentia, in voluntary exile from Great Britain. The poem makes a playful twist on the name Archie, linking it, among other things, to sibling arch rivalry in the royal family of Her Royal Highness, Elizabeth II, Queen of the United Kingdom and her colonies, now succeeded to the throne by her son, His Royal Highness, Prince Charles, now King Charles III, in the wake of his mother’s passing on September 8, 2022. This poem makes the observation of how America’s Lady Liberty, as an arch beacon of liberty and justice, stands as vanguard to welcome all, commoners or royalty, who thirst for freedom; whether wealthy or homeless, prince or pauper. Finally, this poem, in its extended tanka format, makes a dramatic literary ‘soap opera’ leap by linking Harry’s royal ‘misfortunes’ to the classical nineteenth century novel, “The Prince and the Pauper,” written by the American author Mark Twain, and published in Canada in 1881, and in America in 1882. How art imitates and reflects life; and how life dramatically returns the complement. more »