the jester's courage

Laughing Fool (c. 1500–20) — Jacob Cornelisz van Oostsanen (attrib.) (1470–1533)

public domain Wiki Commons

I was a jester once

but never one’s fool

jokes and sarcasm my tool

and a hunchbacked caper

to temper my sting

for the dumb-ass lords and their damsels

tossing fool’s gold at my feet

pope for a day

king for a night

but never a fool

laying down my motley rule

cackling uncheckered truths

at the high and mighty

a dunce’s cap my only protection

hoping one day my head won’t roll

I was a jester once

but never one’s fool

and at your own risk

fail to distinguish between the two

as even with my head on a spike

I’ll be grinning down at you

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A little inspiration drawn from Shakespeare's motley fool, Touchstone, in the play As You Like It.