Ron Padgett

Ron Padgett's most recent books are You Never Know (poems) and Oklahoma Tough: My Father, King of the Tulsa Bootleggers (a memoir). Coffee House Press will issue his Joe: A Memoir of Joe Brainard in October. For more info: www.ronpadgett.com.

THE MEANING OF CROWN

In the nursery rhyme, Jack
fell down and broke his crown.
Why was Jack wearing a crown?
If he was a prince, why
was he fetching a pail of water?
Or was he a boy
pretending to be a prince?
Or was it rather the crown
of his head? If so it must
have been quite a fall to pitch
him that headlong. And who
was Jill and why
did she come tumbling after?
What made these two
so accident prone?
Did Jack care?
No. He was an empty boy.