The Jester
Kim Taplin
ISBN 9781068488344
 
In The Jester, Kim Taplin muses on some of the curious contradictions and comical inconsistencies of modern life. Poems about a first date, taking a pet rat to the vet, a last minute goal and car parking machines are found alongside profound reflections on love, longing and faith.

Kim Taplin’s writing style is succinct and accessible. Some of his poems are humorous and ironic, others are poignant or plaintive; several are satirical, even polemical. He typically writes in narrative free verse, but there are also examples of more traditional poetic forms – sonnet, terza rima, villanelle, minute, tanka, awdl gywydd and limerick. Shape and allegorical prose poems are also included.

Medieval jesters performed in palaces and castles; some plied their trade in taverns, fayres and brothels. Entertaining with acrobatics, tricks and mimicry, they also contributed improvising verse, bawdy jokes and wise storytelling. Jesters were given licence to speak uncompromising truth, to prick the consciences of their paymasters and to get under the skin of cultural norms.

In The Jester, Kim Taplin dares to don motley and to wield his own poetic marotte.