Fool/Jester – Common Domain
The fool, in motley dress – making jibes, faking falls,
what need drives this fool to rule the center stage?
Veiled hubris parades conceits, emptiness and loss.
Zeal fuels a fire to wear the belled cap of the age.
What need drives this fool to rule the center stage?
Walking the tight-wire between smirks and smiles across
the lights; fuels fires to wear the belled cap of the age,
disguised in the light, plucking laughter from the dark.
Tongue wedged beneath his cheek with couched satire, embossed
by winks and turns, prevents King and Court’s stinging rage,
he shifts, then re-appears with scythe and totenkopf.
Covert grin when asking who gets to turn the page.
By winks and turns, he scorns King and Court’s stinging rage.
Veiled hubris parades conceits, emptiness and loss.
Twisting grins when asking who’s last on the stage —
Turns ’round, motley jester–making jibes, faking falls!
© Gay Reiser Cannon * 2012 July * All Rights Reserved
* At times The Fool would transform into a cloak of death – and point out that Death gets the last laugh.
© Gay Reiser Cannon * 2012 July * All Rights Reserved * A Pantoum
Beachanny's Texas 
the fool is a fun character, esp when they use their craft to poke at the royalty and it is dismissed if he is good but it is a razor he dances….wha tneed drives this fool….i can think of a few, but i guess to each their own reasoning…nice form as well gay…
I’ve been steeping in Edwardian and Victorian royalty of late. Spurred no doubt by the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee. The fool could say to those nobles what no one else would utter. Now of course we have the Murdoch press to do that.
don’t we all make fools of ourselves at one or the other point in life..? what need drives us..? love the mirror the fool holds and makes us see the things we wouldn’t, confronts us with what we’re trying to hide… they were so useful back then, we would need them now as well…great write gay
I always felt like laughter – class clowns, comedians — was a mask that covered a deep soul of longing, loneliness, and insecurities. Glad that came across.
What a detailed picture you paint! And yes, every fool holds a mirror…and we can look into it to see that we all are fools at one time or another…and some of those who appear to be fools are actually the smartest ones with the most insight.
I was never one with rapier wit, just countrified sarcasm which I laid to rest long ago realizing the pain that such hasty comments can do. The kind of wit of Shaw and Wilde – literary, clever – never instantly occurred to me.
Methinks this fool Gemini-born,
those many are so forlorn
must prance and dance
as Peeps look askance
and live their life under horn…
Your form I could never try without some real labor–
so alas I do not. But APPRECIATE? YESSSS!
Thanks, Natasha
PEACE!
Absolutely spectacular– you are phenomenal in this form, Gay– so many expressive and lyrical turns of phrase here. xxxj
Your comments always reinforce that I might consider myself a poet, Jenne as I admire your work so much.
The one who dared question kings and rulers, celebrated in a wonderful form.
Thank you – it’s one of a series I’m doing on the characters of the Arcana – four so far!
Love this Gay, form and content. The fool is an interesting character. I did a Crane-esque, very short ‘fool’ piece a while back, just for fun. 🙂
I love Crane – so modern so early. Loved your piece today by the way!
Walking the tight-wire between smirks and smiles
Not everyone finds him humorous… And there are many out there, even today… they just don’t wear the crazy belled hat anymore. 🙂
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One of my favorite characters to use as muse…whether the jester of the court, the fool of the tarot, so much rich and unique history to delve into…love the life you brought to the character and the structure of the form is amazing. You are one brilliant pen wielder, Gay!
Thanks Natasha – for these comments, as well as your undying support of everyone here. I’m wishing you well.
The jester, to me, carries a valid passport into danger…for all will laugh at wit, but sooner kill the bore. The court jester of yore walked a tightrope… He had better be clever…or exiled…Too clever and he’s axed. Have things changed that much…I wonder. Great write, Gay. You are a clever one!
And you as well Jackie. I always appreciate your comments. You bring such a wealth of information and understanding always, just as you reveal in your own fine work.
Brilliant and your form like a custom made dress. You dazzled me with this one!
Thank you Anna. Your endorsement means much to me. I admire you so.
The Fool may seem a fool, but from Shakespeare’s point of view, the Fool could be a sharp, inciteful wit to those who cared to take the time to listen and watch! Descriptive poem!
Yes – the fool as foil in Shakespeare. When we finally tuned our ear to Shakespeare, he taught us more about life than he even did about art!
The fool who persists in his folly will become wise.
William Blake
God love fools and everything about them. All captured in this poem. Great write.
Lovely poetic form Gay (and one I haven’t tried yet) ~ Sometimes I think the fool and jester are the most lonely people around ~
Yes, Grace. see above comment to Claudia! Thank you.
Great form and content, Gay. A lovely write!
Such a difficult form, the pantoum–You’ve done it very well here, Gay–the short staccato phrases seem like the capers of a jester, gestures that are meant to both amuse in their own right and also invoke a satiric image.
Thank you Joy. Your comments are always eagerly awaited, and appreciated. I respect everything you have to say and constantly am trying to learn to write better.
I. Love. This. “The Fool”! Out on the heath with Lear, in the forest with Ganymede, truly enslaved as Caliban in a tempest-tossed island–and here pantoumed into his formal clothes and posture as pictured in medieval times–the footstool, fall guy, and satirical conscience of a king. “What need drives this fool to rule the center stage”? All of this and his acrobatic skill at survival through “Veiled hubris parades conceits, emptiness and loss.” This poem is Brilliant! the form is made for the wit and capers of the immortal fool. You totally rock!
I love this comment. It just simply made me happy. Thank you so much!!
I do love fools – such a wonderful archetype
A sehr groovy meditation on the fool- one of my favorite masks to wear at times. A distinct pleasure to read you as well. Peace.
The fool as mirror… this struck me as very contemporary, we need more fools as foils for those who dance as leaders… the form is fabulous here, and fits the subject matter so perfectly.
Yes – there was that in the metaphor as well. Thank you for pointing it out!
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the fool seems such a fascinating character–to walk such a tight-rope–anything but a fool they must be.
loved the portrayal here…smiled several times (and nobody fell).
The perfect amount of stickiness, without a spot of flower or drop of honey. 😉
These are my favorite lines:
“Tabled grins when asking who gets to turn the page”
“Twisting grins when asking who’s last on the stage”
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