Weird Tales/Volume 29/Issue 2/The Beggar

by Frances Elliott

The⁠Beggar

By Frances Elliott

 

All day the beggar on a sun-drenched stone
Barters his jests for paltriness of coins;
At dusk he winds a sash about his loins
And mounts his poppied throne of dreams, alone.
He jousts with tigers under magic skies,
And knows the joy that fantasy purloins,
A glinting mask of star-dust on his eyes.