At the head of the table sits the king
at the distant other end sits his queen;
Wooden goblets overflow with fine wine
Guests in high back velvet chairs sit between
Servants set the table sparsely with forks,
shiny carving knives, soup bowls and ladle
Lads in festive garb carry huge platters
overhead of fruit, figs, nut meats hazel
Straight from the fire comes fresh game, venison,
pork, beef, sweetbreads, succulent roast pheasant
From the kitchen, cheese curd, pickled herring
delicate quail eggs, simmered turtle soup
Plum pudding and apple-quince pie prepared
for the sake of celebration and mirth
Robust arms wrestle for drumsticks and legs,
tossing, discarding aside bones with dearth
Ladies forget dainty table manners -
while servants keep a continuous run
Triumphant toasts are raised all around, some
prefer to pass just jugs of homemade rum
Jesters and mimes perform with great aplomb;
Human targets stand in the forest trees;
doing all they can to remain quite calm
arrows fly at the greatest of speed
Quite serious moves are contemplated
in a mean game of chess or jousting a man
from his horse, landing him in a puddle
Full-bellied men, flushed ladies loll in rattan
Women untie their girdles, unleash their
bosoms to breathe; drunk young men trail maidens
into the woods playing games, in search of
greener fields, of beds yet undiscovered
Plenty of gluttony and sloth, needless
to say; truth be told, much baring of souls
with loud incongruous soliloquies ...
Some dance on tables, become total fools
No business is considered at this time,
no property exchanged, new laws made
Frankincense circles the encampment there
not far from the castle's high stone walls
Days of Robin Hood and his band of men
shared life together in Sherwood Forest
They dared robbing the ladies of their jewels,
the men their purses, for the poor, of course.
I remember the earliest version
romanticized in Hollywood, of Maid
Marian, flowers in her tresses, Big
Little John, Friar Tuck and followers
Oft I wonder if the story was true,
The legend reminds me of fiscal today
and the 99%, versus a few
Parallels are clearly evident of
this form of selfish indulgence
Modern man's precedent was set back then
when people followed blindly a pied piper
It's our responsibility to unleash
kindness's full power and to reverse the
debauchery
... and stop playing games like -
pin the tail on the donkey..
We are transitioning this week over at the Poetics web-site called dversepoets.com The changing of the guard does not mean people are leaving, but rather re organizing and and re-energizing the place. Still there will be poems posted 3 times a week with some surprises thrown in. In celebration we are having a joust of sorts -coming together for a banquet of poetry all about Med-evil society. Have fun reading and hop over to read a bit.
