NaPoWriMo day eight

demand caused his blackest rages.
the mouth of Edward remained
a foolish one.
 
The curious part –
the story conveyed
(the first stages)
 
young Edward was summoned,
compelled to obey:
 
proceed at once,
strip each day
and wade out
into the water
as a daily ritual.
 
*
 
He wanted
the mouth of the queen,
and her royal possessions.
 
The demand
was strategic.
 
Selected as mediator—
most unwillingly—
Edward was seized
(so it is said).
 
It is not recorded,
this humiliation.
 
*
 
However made,
a demand
contains death.
It had remained
of the first importance,
the curious story
selected by the victim
of indignation:
Thou wouldst!
cried the king
Thou? Who hast?
The punishment fell.
He was banished.
Obey the sentence.
The designated
experience.