The Fool is my icon; I shall not want.
It maketh of me a simulacrum of autumnal womanhood;
it leadeth me to see myself in storm surge.
Fool breaketh my soul; Fool leadeth my spirit on paths
            of disappointment for its laughter’s sake.
Yea, tho’ I walketh through the valley of the shadow
            of thy death, I fear thee; for thou art with me;
thy mind and thy heart mock me.
Thou preparest a bed before me
in the presence of ineffable pleasures;
thou annointest my psalm with love’s oil of bitter herbs;
my smile withers up.
Assuredly, ignominy and disenchantment
shall follow us both all the days of our lives,
but it is I who will dwell in the house of the Fool forever.

Karla Linn Merrifield has had 1000+ poems appear in dozens of journals and anthologies. She has 16 books to her credit. Following her 2018 Psyche’s Scroll (Poetry Box Select) is the full-length book Athabaskan Fractal: Poems of the Far North from Cirque Press. Her newest poetry collection, My Body the Guitar, nominated for the 2022 National Book Award, was inspired by famous guitarists and their guitars and published in December 2021 by Before Your Quiet Eyes Publications Holograph Series (Rochester, NY). She is a frequent contributor to The Songs of Eretz Poetry Review.