westminster gazette, may 16, 1901.]

(with apologies to sir john tenniel.)

i shook him well from side to side

until his face was blue.

“come, tell me where’s the bill,” i cried,

“and what you’re going to do.”

he said, “i hunt for gibes and pins

to prick the bishops’ calves,

i search for royal commissions, too,

to use as safety valves.”