Dancing that night with the Jester


    Is one I shall always remember


    I sought him out the following days


    Searching for signs among all the graves


    “Jester, Jester, please come back!”


    I shouted and begged until I lost track.


    For fifteen long days, I tried to find


    He, who had brought me peace of mind


    But my search always ended the same:


    Isolation filled Doubt and dolorous pain


    Time passed like wind, until snow started to fall


    Autumn blew by without once hearing his call


    I told others what had happened that night


    But all that heard only laughed at my plight


    “You must have dozed off,” is what they had said.


    “Forget idle dreams, there is no Jester in Red.”


    “Quit acting so strange, quit telling these lies!”


    Was never spoken by lips, but showed in their eyes.


    Despised and mistrusted, I returned to the dead


    A wretched man I was with a heart full of lead


    I sang, I pranced, I hummed his tune


    I sprang, I danced, from night to noon


    But still there was no Jester


    No maidens, no ghouls


    The only soldier left to pester


    was me, the fool


    “How cruel, how strange, how long must I toil?”


    Deranged and estranged I sat on muddy soil


    Rain fell like despair and it was all too easy to see


    I was beyond repair: sorrow-stricken with Misery.


    Heavy hearted and lost


    In the cemetery I remained


    I departed when the frost


    Left me weary and pained


    Days turned to months, and I began to wonder if


    My meeting with the Jester had been a curse or a gift.


    A cold shadow crept amidst the soft glow


    Of the pale blue moon, and fresh fallen snow


    I was alone.


    Now and forever


    No line could I find


    Whether stupid or clever


    To describe the sublime


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    In meeting the Jester


    One night beside my cot, sat two other men


    Their lanterns burned hot


    As they took up their cards again


    “Come now,” they beckoned to me


    “Join us once more, like we used to play”


    “Games better with three, will you not sway?”


    “Just a game,” is how I replied


    Though I felt if I had denied


    They would only press me again


    So I took up the cards


    And played with these two men


    We laughed and joked


    Filed pipes to smoke


    Drank brandy, shared rum


    All while desperately,


    I tried to have fun


    But the joy, like the Jester


    Just wouldn''t come


    Smiling while beguiling


    I counted the seconds as they passed


    Unending was my pretending


    Until at long last


    The game was over


    The cards were through


    And I returned to my cot


    Until the day was new


    But before crimson light could hit my eyes


    I awoke to a candle by my bedside


    It was another soldier returning from his post


    The color of his face was as pale as a ghost


    Cold sweat dripped from his brow


    I asked his trouble and this he avowed


    “Last night I was to see to the hounds”


    “Feed the beasts and silence their sounds”


    “But the gate, I must have forgot to lock”


    “Now on the streets all the dogs do walk”


    “They run, they bark, and I was unable to catch”


    He dug his nails into his cheeks and started to scratch


    “The Captain, I fear his whip and his stern gaze”


    “I’ll be punished for this until the end of my days.”


    I grabbed his wrists and removed them from his face


    “Breath easy dear soldier, this mistake we can erase.”


    “Sun is not up and the Captain sleeps in,”


    “We’ll capture the beasts,” I said with a grin


    We flew threw the streets wasting no time


    Chasing after all the strange sounds


    The houses passed by as we tried to find


    Each and every one of the hounds


    Two had made it to the front gate


    One was snacking inside of a butcher’s crate


    Four were found in the alleys and behind the shops


    We cornered the beasts and made them stop


    We searched and found


    All of the hounds, but one evaded our quest


    The sun peeked through the clouded sky


    As we tried to catch our breath


    The beast was fast and seemed to fly


    Anytime we would draw near


    It was large and gray and would growl our way


    The other man shrunk from fear


    “That hound is from Hisskar!” he called with a shout


    “Long lived are those beasts and hard to calm”


    “Soon the people will be walking about”


    “It’s too dangerous, we must sound the alarm!”


    I shook my head and told the soldier “no.”


    “If we do, he''ll be brought down by the bow.”


    “Go if you must, but I ask you to trust that I will find a way.”


    “Perhaps a song will bring him back,”


    “If he will not listen to what we say.”


    The man ran off, and now It was just us two


    I thought no wrong could be found in song


    So I performed the only one that I knew


    And as if the beast was waiting for this


    He stopped and dropped his head


    I approached him as he laid in bliss


    Singing the song of the Jester in Red


    I pet his fur and he let out a howl


    As triumphant as the thunder


    He muttered not even one growl


    And nearly fell to slumber


    I heard the bell and knew it meant


    The beast would soon meet its end


    We left Scrydell and on we went


    I had found myself a worthy friend.


    The joy I sought could not be bought


    But now it had been found


    So north we trot, just us two:


    Master and his hound.