The sale of Excalibur

by CD Richards

When hard times fell upon the King,
his heart was sad and torn.
The thought of selling all he had
left Arthur quite forlorn.

But sell he must, to pay his bills,
as he was strapped for cash.
He held a market in the court—
a most impressive bash.

And nobles came from miles around,
all seeking Kingly goods;
they snapped up shields and lances, and
a dozen chain-mail hoods.

It nearly broke Pendragon's heart,
Excalibur to sell,
to Mordred, whom the King knew as
a cur and ne'er-do-well.

But when the time came, Mordred voiced
the biggest insult yet—
"Methinks it grossly overpriced,
it has a cankerfret."

Now Arthur took offence at this
besmirching of his sword;
an insult to his honour, 'twas,
and could not be ignored.

He raised the blade into the air,
then swiftly brought it down,
and while the King held on to his,
'twas Mordred lost his crown.

In Camelot, where bold knights roam,
old Arthur's still around;
but Mordred's hatched his final plot,
he's six feet underground.

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Poem of the Month contest entry

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Today's word: cankerfret (n.) a corroded surface on metal.

My much-treasured Christmas present for 2017 is a book by Paul Anthony Jones: "The cabinet of linguistic curiosities". Each page contains a descriptive story about some obscure or archaic word. It occurred to me it would be a fun exercise to try and write, each day, a poem featuring the "word of the day" from the book.

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The story of Camelot reimagined, with a happy ending

A chapter in the book A Potpourri of Poetic Curiosities

The sale of Excalibur

by CD Richards

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