MOTLEY APRIL FOOL

MOTLEY APRIL FOOL

I'll be your motley April fool,
It's all I've got the strength to do.
Here in my dotage, here in my old age,
Here in the glory of my life's final page.

I'll be your motley April fool,
I'll be ever the good sport,
Spouting bromides of good cheer,
Holding court with my faults and my warts.
I'll wear the motley jester's cap,
With the furry ball that drapes and teases.
The wine you'll sip, enjoying my quips, 
While munching on assorted cheeses.

I'll be your motley April fool, your errant errand boy,
Not a man but a whirling top, an awesome twirling toy.
I'll spout my words of nonsense, my childish nursery rhymes
And fall about on my hapless snout, shouting out the time.
Every hour upon the hour, my mouth will din and chime,
A most delicious daunting din, synchronized with 'ole Big Ben.

I understand with gravity, the art of bashful brevity,
The need for raucous laughter, the need for luscious levity.
My payment for my services a slice of bread perhaps with jam.
I am the very soul of wit, a most hellacious ham.

I understand the human need for respite from one's toil,
Happy to be still alive upon your maiden soil.
I've nothing much to qualify, much less set me apart.
Give me but an hour sublime and I'll have won your heart.

I'll be your motley April fool, even in my mechanical wheelchair.
Just adjust my silver hair and rouge, and always entertain downstairs.
I can be bitchy, I can be mean, a terrible tart and a delightful old queen.
I work real cheap on 12 hour's sleep and I am not above,
A whoopee cushion or a playful shove,
As long as I have your courtly love.

The old are sometimes tossed away, none of that for me.
I'll jump and shout, I'll step on cracks, I'll be wild and wacky.
I promise I'll be at my best, 'til the end of the raucous age,
And die of cardiac arrest, still witty and still sage.

Just bury me in a clown's car, alas, with plastic flowers,
The guests can roast me, the king can toast me,
I'll tickle the fancy of the dowagers dour,
Do a medley of my greatest hit, 'til all your sides are split with laughter.
Remember me your motley fool, for now and ever after.

-Bruce Potts
Revised Copyright 2015
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED