The Bard’s Much Ado about Humpty Dumpty
A vaunting egg perched high upon a wall
Proclaimed himself the handsomest of fellows.
His shell he judged the brownest of them all,
His double yolk the yellowest of yellows.
Then, lo! The prating coxcomb tumbled down
And in the wretched dust was equal made
With those whose hapless shells were less dark brown
And much cracked from the strain of being laid.
No use to him the King’s men and their horses
Who chanced upon his body spread around
But lacked a skilled physician’s deft resources
To reassemble all the bits they found.
An egg, they said, fit but for one Last Post
From grieving soldiers made of buttered toast.
Martin Parker is a light verse enthusiast whose work has appeared in a variety of UK publications including The Literary Review, The Spectator, The Oldie, and The Sunday Telegraph, as well as in a number of wider-ranging publications and webzines more normally associated with “proper” poetry. His first booklets, Pick ‘n Mix and Rubbing The Lamp, contain some 90 poems which are not always as light as they may first appear to be, as does the subsequent No Longer Bjored, published by Happenstance Press. Details of all his publications together with examples of his work can be found at www.martinparker-verse.co.uk He is both Founder and Editor of the quarterly light verse webzine Lighten Up Online.