The Court Jester

Introduction to 2nd Provocative Verse:

In days of yore the one before the King could criticise
She rang her bell then she could tell what paupers said with cries
And so the Courts would hear reports as chanted by the Jester
The only one under the sun with quest that was to test her

And so the joke she sang and spoke was hidden in the verses
The King with wine might be benign enough to hear the curses
Of common folk who bear the yolk of laws and wars and cages
May find a line that has a sign of protest in these pages.

Chris Higginson