Joke

The jester gives

a deadly grin that

fills with rot and time,

when king and queen

both lift their hands and

make the final sign.

And courtiers turn and

view the light

that filters through the grime

while bells that jingle

tilt to side and

sing their final chimes.

---

And do you watch the

man in paint who

made the final crime?

---

Chime, chime, the

sign of time that

breaks you into

words and rhyme and

calls the final

break in time that

makes the final,

pithy sign.

A circle cruel that

splits and cries

and searches deep for

last reprise.

--

But can you see the

man in paint or

only glints of eyes?

--

Only such as

I can say, or

such that that implies,

will lend you knowledge

brought in time by

men with coins for eyes.

The dead that know,

the dead that sigh, and

anxious for the

final sign look

wise not to the

dripping skies but

down to earth from

which they rise.

Only men with

coins for eyes can

understand what

sight belies.

Sing that solemn,

dirge-like rhyme.

The jester grins and

starts again among

the dead that

stop and smile.