Who Could Lead A Jackal On A Leash? Poem by Mark Heathcote

There was a gipsy,
Who stole everybody's eye?
She once led a white foal
No other soul could cajole
And all the menfolk whispered
Now, there's a woman
Worthy of famine, a war
and a country being tortured for.
Now, there's a woman.
Mean-heart-ache is worth a bow
There was a gipsy woman
Who could lead a jackal on a leash?
And make it drink milk from a dish
She once rubbed my soles
And I swear the devil howled
Saying a thousand religious vows
There was a gipsy,
A black-haired raven
With blue gentian eyes:
You'd look for the moon
To disguise your dumb-founded gaze
As she sang, all the other gipsy ladies
Yawned and frowned
On the prettiest freehold
Property in town