“Off with his head!” cried the Queen of Hearts.
It had all begun much earlier, with
a powerless princess, pawn pushed about
in a dizzying dance by the Queen and her King;
the Bishop turned slantwise away, his excited
disapproval of the King’s headstrong rush
to consummate his pleasure, while his Kinghts
pawed the ground and tossed their tails.

His head was the bloodier sacrifice,
but she the one who would live to regret it,
raging through life, her humiliation blazing 
Red: “Off with his head!” cried the Queen.