Why did the poet seek the hand,
of the Jester, whom they could not stand?
To the marriage chamber, they made their way,
To the stage – they had to obey.

It’s like a clown with a heart so big,
telling jokes that make you do a jig.
You laugh until you dance yourself to death,
until you breathe your very last breath,
and then – when they light you on fire,
you’re still dancing on the funeral pyre.

Is it just too much to think, are all thoughts despair,
to think one might find in lines of poetry, one to care?
With ink and with words, a poet once penned a plea,
to heal the heart’s wounds, and set emotions free.

Poets, like jokers, need an audience, even fool brides,
Someone obliged to listen as the poet confides.
So in the marriage chamber, a poet found reprieve,
A chance to heal, to breathe, and in poetry – believe.
How can this tale end happily, the answer’s clear.
Love’s complexities the poets need to steer.

In the toast chair, the poet, rhythm, rhyme, laid it all out –
All the love and heartache, until it was without a doubt.
“Too many in-tents, made-up, like a clown’s painted frown”
amidst disapproval, the poet continues, “Let’s break it down.”

Two poets, wrapped in literary, on a journey, went,
To a secret haven, where they could be content.
“Why did they go?” you might curiously inquire,
When you should be asking how they set the tent on fire!
“Why did they do it?” Well, now it’s clear to see –
To shed some baggage, ditch the clown, and set all poets free!

This is part of a TABLE OF CONTENTS restraint poem- In this constraint, I have taken a Poetry Anthology originally published in 1925. Each section contains 20-40 titles. My Constraint was to use as many words as possible in the table of contents to construct a new Poem.