The sound of clashing swords
Reached the heavens up high,
And unbeknownst to the Maid
Her end drew nigh.

She paid no heed
To the warning of Midsummer’s Day.
For how could something as dark as death
Happen in a month as light as May?

Ignorant and innocent
She watched the drawbridge rise
And from the other side
She could hear her men’s cries.

Of joy or of defeat
One will never know
But abandoned by her army
Joan was captured by her foe.

Sold by John of Luxemburg
To the merciless English
She was left all alone
To suffer in her anguish.

King Charles received word,
But this caused many a noble joy,
For they were vicious with envy,
And no armies were to deploy.

So up on the stake
The Maid of Orleans was tied.
The rocks and the taunts
Did not sever her pride.

She held her head high,
And the angels urged her
To shout out her last words,
Causing the crowd to stir.

“You are here today
To watch an innocent burn.
And you think that I’m gone
Because I will never return.

“I will not come back
Because I will never leave.
In Domremy I stay
Where my loved ones’ grieve.

“And I stay here too.
For every time you walk by this place,
You will hesitate,
And you will remember my face.

“In your thoughts and in your memories,
I will always be alive.
In the stories you tell your grandchildren,
I will thrive.

“So do not celebrate my death,
Fear what it will bring,
The unwanted memory of burnt skin
Come next spring.

“I wish you happiness,
And I bid you farewell,
And for now I will dream
Of the tales you will tell.

“Of the great Maid of Orleans
Whose life you couldn’t end,
However much you will
Otherwise try to pretend.”

And with that her mouth closed
Her speech and mission done.
A smile curved her lips
And her face turned to the sun.

Never did she scream,
And never did she cry,
When the flames consumed her body
And she finally did die.

When the last of her ashes
Were lost in the air,
The crowd stood silently
And could do nothing but stare.

Forever on, people remembered
The great Joan of Arc.
And the angels
Who had urged her to embark.