The Jester

A silence that never fades,
 the unjust Jester plays for his king,
These simple pleasures,
 like laughter,
Unattainable in such a city.

The city of Judgement forever shines,
 feeding on sorrows and pain,
Yet the Jester entertains.

Moving from Castle to King,
 so far yet so near,
Which mask will he choose today
 each city mocks his appearance.

Shall we continue to dance in step,
 always moving, slowly aging,
Or will you forever walk the lit path,
 a face unchangeable

Just like a Jester,
 each city has a mask,
Behind each of his visits a hidden meaning,
 which mask holds his true face
Unavoidable you ponder this wonder,
 for the face of a Jester is a void of despair.

Joshua Chilson (2009)

Reviews

[Livana Lowell]

Using the jester as the worse case of a hollow mask. I didn't grasp the meaning until the two ending lines.

The word that stands out is "unjust" before "jester". What is that word supposed to do for the poem. Each word carries meaning or a kind of connotated feeling and that was just "blank" for me. Or it could be that the jester lacks justice or unfairness. Is that what you meant? Because that would mean the jester would be a mean spirit when he seems more lost in his fantasies or something like that. The word sounds like a contradiction to the poem. Or maybe I'm interpreting it wrong. Feel free to explain.

And "These simple pleasures" is confusing for me. What do you mean? Laughter is an abstract noun therefore if the pronoun "these" is directed to the "laughter", shouldn't it be "this".

Otherwise, I understand the jester walking into a city where the eyes judge and create a mask that he entrains with. Using that mask to find a way to escape the city of judgment, and his thoughts upon the many masks that he has. It's a matter of settling in the darkness. I like it.

Thank you for sharing.

[J.]

The subjects many masks, full of laughter and jokes on the surface, while underneath, he screams out and no one seems to see nor hear! Underneath, are loneliness and tears that drench his real self, using his only self-defense mechanism (being that of the jester) to protect what he has left of the self, to move on if only to survive. He pretends to be happy, and thus shares an almost self-tyrannical display of maniacal emotions, to over exaggerate the many masks he wears that try to protect what is left of himself. So those around him who fail to truly see him and all that is buried deep within, will evermore ponder and be in wonder (if at all that) what may be eating him inside and out. At least this is my analytical take on this piece. I may be wrong, but sometimes it is hard to explain away exactly what I am trying to convey in description of what I see exactly here. All-in-all, I think I get it.

[Star Shaped Heart]

the true face is the one who is crying out for hours in his sleep while confessing his folly or was there a hidden meaning with that visit too?