town folk

We'll decide
our taxes
market dues
and tolls
so stay away
you nobles
less you've come to shop

we'll hire
our military
and defend our walls
and our officers
will carry our banner
should it come to war

we'll minister
justice our way
with our own magistrates
so you be careful how
try to persuade us

best you take
your money
and leave us be.

[Loosely based on a passage in Life on a Mediaeval Barony by W. S. Davis.]