“The chickens should have been a tighter group,
and Farmer should have purchased stronger locks
instead of whining now about the coop
and getting mad at Reynardine, the fox.

The chickens didn’t mend defensive flaws
or try to get a gun or sharper beak.
Why blame the beast with wits and stronger jaws
for weeding out the losers and the weak?

The victim here, whose name they’ve tried to harm,
has suffered public shame and sad disgrace.
To make it right, he must receive the farm.
I thank Your Honors now and rest my case.”

The judges ruled in Reynardine’s support
because the fox had also bought the court.

*****

Paul Burgess writes: “The Elizabethan sonnet, which I love to adapt to many purposes, is a natural fit for the structure I like best: a setup, a volta, and a jolt at the end.  Many of my best poems succeed, and my worst fail, because of my persistent embrace of tonal ambiguity. This poem is no exception. I like the tension between a seemingly folksy and witty parable and a traditionally serious, elegant form. For me, there’s humor in darkness and darkness in humor. The balance shifts, but I don’t think I could ever completely separate the two and still be myself, as a person or as a writer.”

‘Reynadine’s Farm’ was first published in Snakeskin.

Paul Burgess, an emerging poet, is the sole proprietor of a business in Lexington, Kentucky that offers ESL classes in addition to English, Japanese, and Spanish-language translation and interpretation services. He has recently contributed work to Blue Unicorn, Light, The Orchards, The Ekphrastic Review, Pulsebeat, The New Verse News, Lighten Up On Line, The Asses of Parnassus, and several other publications.

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Photo: “Ely Cathedral: Stained Glass Museum” by Phil McIver is licensed under CC BY-NC 2.0.