It started with Charles II,
The monarch who first beckoned,
To serve the royal throne,
A poet he'd call his own.
Since then they've all been blokes.
And not too big on jokes.
It all got rather stuffy,
Thank God for Carol Ann Duffy.
She is the nation's favourite,
our choice for poet laureate.

So the Observer this day chose,
To celebrate with a sonnet,
But having struggled on it,
We'll next week stick to prose.