A Fool's Tale
In Mackia there was a king,
The Walrus was his chosen name;
As wide an eagle, wing to wing,
A horse would weigh the same.
His face could turn a man to stone,
A vulture pose far greater charm;
His own attendants often roam
Despite his threats, of pain and harm.
His subjects all look on in shame,
But none would ever loud protest;
For spilling blood the favored game
Of Walrus King they all detest.
But then one day the king went out
With single servant and a fool;
To hunt the game that roam about,
The castle lands, he loves to rule.
They gone but hours when the king
Had sudden stop and need for rest;
He felt a burn, and then a sting,
Within his massive mountain chest;
The next they knew he lay there dead,
Lying on the frozen ground;
No comforts there, no kingly bed,
No one in sight to speak a sound.
The servant feared, and turned to fool,
Who says, “if truth of this be found,
Before his body even cool
We’ll both be buried underground;
All must still think the king alive
And nothing ill of him this day,
So aid my plan and both survive,
All we must do is act the play”.
They trimmed the clothes to make’m fit
For fool was slim and very small;
Though king a mountain, while he sit,
The fool stood only four foot tall.
They came at first upon two guards
Who stood within the inner gate;
They recognized the foolish bard,
Imagining the kingly fate;
Each guard looked on the little fool
In King's adapted winter clothes;
But then remembered all the cruel
Decisions, that the king imposed.
For they the hands of chopping blocks,
When King was in a certain mood;
And knew how many should have walked,
When anger’s force they must exude.
And knew the fool a gentle man,
A summer breeze and not a storm;
Compassion was his only plan,
A kindness felt and always warm.
They wondered if they played the part
If realm would be a better place;
As fool beheld a worthy heart,
To judge a man, from case to case.
So guards they bowed the lowest bow,
And said, “your gracious majesty,
On this we swear, a solemn vow,
We’ll serve you always, happily.”
The fool and servant went inside;
And next they came across a lord,
Who ran the vault and in good stride
Did try preserve the kingdom hoard.
The lord he look’d upon the fool
In King's adapted winter clothes;
And thought of methods learned in school,
The king ignored, or try oppose.
The lord he asked if still the case
To build a statue to the sky,
Of Majesty’s enduring face,
And doing such, bleed kingdom dry.
Or would the king prefer instead
To use the people’s fleeting gold,
To build a shelter stocked with beds
To aid the sick, weary, and old.
Well fool was from a family large
So jumped upon the sudden chance;
And there decreed a royal charge,
The shelter stead, would he finance.
The lord he bowed the lowest bow,
And said, “your gracious majesty,
On this I swear, a solemn vow,
I’ll serve you always, happily.”
The pair proceeded further in
Until they stood in front the queen;
A women he had loved since when
She first, set foot upon their green.
She spoke unto the little fool,
“O king, in past you’ve done me harm,
Your wandering is ever cruel,
And angry words strike hard as arms.
I never asked of this before
As fear a wiser path to take;
But what I want, is to adore
My king, and he adore his mate”.
To this the fool in turn replied,
“for all discretion in the past,
They never shall be justified
And everyone is at the last;
My heart will never leave your side
Regardless, how the die is cast;
But if allowed, to here reside,
Our futures can reverse the past”.
The queen she kissed the longest kiss,
And said, “your gracious majesty,
On this I swear, a solemn vow,
I’ll reign with you, most happily.”