I

Rival bandits covet what they can
The villein's Miss, the spoiler's bliss
A misfit prick and his dirty fist
The union-jack-a-dandy's kiss
The tongueless juggler bungles love
And springs a leak in drought
A carnival fling with the ventriloquist king
Accentuates his doubt


II

A wedded pair on federal ground
Turn and spin a still-born round
Under a prison sky the hagglers scream and cry
But the baby never makes a sound
Rose water from the warden
Soft sawder for a song
Human pinions trade trash opinions
The gossip never gets it wrong


III

A warrior magician forever in the red
Envisions future dread
Mounting prophets from the war
Helps to keep him fed
He picks an omen clean
And only leaves his bed
For touchwood and wet bread
And visitations from the dead


IV

Civilians guarding the fatherland
Throw their daughters to the wolves
Hungry Hilda's mouth and belly
Have never been this full
With fishes and loaves for the comatose
Gallant Gods abound
The gaudy young with modest guns
Never put them down
A bondsman rears a mogul son
And the banished build a town

Written by © Nevada Kerr
21st January 2003.