​Beatrice Cenci, Roman Warrior, by Nuala O'Connor ​

Portrait of Beatrice Cenci, by Ginevra Cantofoli (Italy) c. 1608 or 1616

​Beatrice Cenci, Roman Warrior
 
Centuries since my father
soiled my girlish linen
 
and I called all the angels
from the clouds to sing in
 
my ears, to eclipse his grunts,
to soothe my own terror,
 
I haunt the Ponte Sant’Angelo,
steps from where my head was
 
severed for what they called
patricide, I, preservation.
 
On the bridge, I shadow the girls
with older boyfriends, tweaking
 
their hair to keep them alert,
tripping their men on the cobbles.
 
The Angels of the Passion watch
from their plinths – coaxing me,
 
laughing – but always with their
weapons upheld, ready to defend.

Nuala O'Connor ​

Nuala O’Connor lives in Co. Galway, Ireland. Her writing been widely published, and won many literary awards. Her sixth novel Seaborne, about Irish-born pirate Anne Bonny, was nominated for the 2025 Dublin Literary Award and shortlisted for Novel of the Year at the 2024 An Post Irish Book Awards. She won Irish Short Story of the Year at the 2022 Irish Book Awards. Her fifth poetry collection, Menagerie, was published by Arlen House in 2025. www.nualaoconnor.com