She Had No Other Choice But This

She had no other choice but this:

When summoned by the king to go

For by compulsion she was his

And bore the favor he’d bestow.

But if she ventured on her own

Occasion to initiate

Once she approached him on the throne

Then she would seal her mortal fate.

Though faint with hunger, on the arms

Of maids-in-waiting by her side,

The queen of her unnumbered charms

The custom of the court defied.

Unhindered as the queen approached

The king observed her drawing near

And angered that she had encroached

Upon his solitude, severe,

Unable to avert his gaze

But touched by Esther’s countenance

He bid her—to the court’s amaze

With outstretched scepter—to advance;

Which Esther did and foiled the plot

Against her people to destroy,

And not by chance reversed the lot

That Haman cast, turned sorrow joy.