Observe the Muslin Footman
by Peter Wyton
Observe the muslin footman bearing nutmeg to the miller,
Across the garden carpet where the brindled beauty dreams
That her coxcomb prominent has brought her cinnabar and umber
A cetaceous Hebrew character who’s seldom what he seems.
The sallow kitten shivers on the chilly frosted green,
The common pug, whilst barking at the puss,
Sticks his snout into the swordgrass near the lackey,
Mother Shipton is annoyed at all the fuss.
The old lady much dislikes the square spot rustic,
A drinker and a chopper down of privet,
The vapourer who’s rooted out dark tussocks
From her sycamore, which makes her simply livid.
But the forester, undaunted, trims the elder
For the quaker in his clouded drab attire,
While the herald, short cloaked, strums his wispy lutestring
And the flame moth roasts hot chestnuts in the fire.
A ruby tiger stalks a mottled leopard,
Fan footed through black arches in the night,
True lover’s knot entwines peach blossom tightly
To festoon a marbled beauty, bordered white.