Alys awoke and jumped out of bed
The sound of barking filling her head.
All over town the dogs were howling
Snapping, whining, yapping, growling.
Bulldogs bellowed, beagles bickered,
Shih tzu and salukis sniggered.
Boxers drawled at tormenting toys,
The morning rang with canine noise.
Alys could stand the din no more,
Out she ran to meet from nextdoor,
Mr Alibush, "Tell me please,
Why all this noise? When will it cease?”
“The King will tell us what to do,
‘bout this noisy hullabaloo.
He’ll go to the Coliseum,
Let’s go too and we can see him."
Alibush marched and Alys skipped,
To the centre of town they tripped.
They found two Coliseum seats
And ate a bag of ginger sweets.
First came builders carrying bricks
Then police with truncheons and sticks,
Next the soldiers with shiny boots
The politicians wearing suits.
Trumpeters with a toot-iti-toot!
Led a band with a lute and a flute.
Followed up by the big bass drums
Crying babies hushed by their mums.
The farmer with a herd of sheep,
Acrobats with a jump and leap.
The butcher, the baker,
The candlestick maker.
Monkeys with tales, dancers with vales,
Nugget sellers, storytellers,
Buskers with songs, chemists with pongs,
Choirs of singers, bells with ringers.
Bookshop keepers, non-stop leapers,
Lollipop ladies, flip flop men,
Sellers, buyers, fellows, squires,
Clowns, flyers, and the town criers.
The magician with … hat and dove,
Just got in ….. with a squeeze …. and shove
“All breath in, a last push and pull,
Here’s the King, the Coliseum’s full.
Alibush raised Alys up high,
On his shoulders, up to the sky.
“The king looks smaller,” Alys said
“Than on the coins that show his head.”
The crowd hushed a fading babble,
Muzzled, breathless, mouths a goggle.
Faces with eyes at attention
Await the king’s proclamation.
“Why, why, I hear you cry,
Tell us, why is the sky so blue?
The sun at noon, at night the moon;
All circle the Earth, just for you.
What, what has your King got,
That sparkles and shines so brightly?
A dog’s a dog, a King’s a king,
And we rule our people rightly.
Now, now we will allow,
A fine gift for both young and old.
Look through the gate and celebrate.
For a pageant we will unfold.
Hark, hark the dogs do bark,
The Beggars are coming to town.
Some are in rags, some are in jags.
Their leader wears a velvet gown."
The drummers beat a long tattoo,
The barking of dogs grew and grew
The trumpeters a fanfare blew,
Flocks of birds from the roof tops flew.
But the Coliseum gates stood still,
The wind blew in a sudden chill.
Slowly the doors began to slide
They yawned, they groaned, they opened wide....
They walked on stilts, with swords and Kilts,
They came with their heads held high.
Some of them rolled, hoops made of gold
Which they threw high in the sky.
Through tattered rags, through slits and jags
Beautiful bright colours glowed.
Their rags, a hoax on precious cloaks
Of saffron, turquoise and wode .
Banners and flags, flapped high wigwags
Bright sparkles of high relief
Still there came more, surged through the door
The pageant beggared belief.
Clouds of petals, filled red puddles
Their flowers covered the floor.
Birds they let fly with a song and a cry
Parrots and crimson macaw.
Then through the door, came a trumpeting roar
A creature with trunk held high
An elephant bejewelled and elegant
Dazzled the onlookers’ eye.
On leviathan, standing higher than
Any man or king in town.
As straight as cedar stood the beggars’ leader
And he wore a velvet gown.
With swaying packs strapped on their backs.
Came dray horses, yaks and lama.
Parading round the circus ground
A swaying animal drama .
Closing this lavish cavalcade
Three white Bactrian Camels swayed.
On each back, in wicker baskets,
Bronze, silver and golden caskets.
No hand did make the bronze lid rise
But a rainbow of butterflies,
A swirling cloud, a dancing spray,
Flittering out, a live bouquet.
Hurrahs and sighs the crowd did sing.
The beggar strode towards the king,
To the sovereign he strutted up
Holding out a collecting cup.
The king called for his catchfart man,
“Bring some coins for this beggar’s pan.”
In the bowl he counted twenty.
The beggar looked, ‘twas half empty.
To the next beast the beggar strode
And from the silver casket flowed
An overwhelming buzzing swarm
Of angry wasps, a rising storm.
Brewing up in a thunder cloud.
Over the king, over the crowd.
The king called for gold to be weighed
“This beggars’ leader must be paid.”
They shovelled gold with all their will
But that small bowl they could not fill
To the last chest the beggar stepped.
What terror lurked? What here was kept?
“Halt, halt, it’s not their fault.
My people here are not to blame
Have what you will, just take your fill
What is it that you beggars claim?”
All was silent around the ring.
The beggar pointed to the king
The monarch stepped into the dirt
Now his people would not be hurt.
The kings bodyguard raised his blade.
“Hold, hold my faithful aide.
Yonder fellow, I will follow
The only way he will be paid.”
The king’s royal crown the beggar took.
Took it off, with his begging crook
The king climbed up to the golden chest
And entered the box with out protest.
Startled, the camel galloped round
The golden chest fell to the ground
The splintered wood beyond repair
The king had gone into thin air.
The banished king, a beggar’s prize
People blinked unbelieving eyes
The Coliseum they did leave
What they’d seen they could not believe?
Alibush said, “It’s time to go.”
So he and Alys joined the flow
Alys said, “Now, we have no king,
Tell me what the future will bring?”
“Now earthquakes may destroy our town.
What’s it matter who wears the crown?
There’ll soon appear another fool,
Who’ll wear the crown and try to rule.”
Alibush marched and Alys skipped
Her old friend’s hand Alys gripped,
“Mr Alibush” said Alys
“Next week, let’s go to the palace?”
