Children Of The Free

Children Of The Free
© Surazeus
2024 01 20

Unlike Nebuchadnezzar or King Lear, 
who went mad and ran wild in mocking wind, 
I walk with dignity beside Gray Sea 
to kill the dragon of my deepest fear 
then roast sizzling steaks on the pyramid 
where I host feast for Children of the Free. 

I build high walls from fragile mountain stone 
to enclose Heaven for children to play 
who tend lush apple trees with supple hands, 
but my young wolf-eyed son wanders alone 
in shadowy groves where he kneels to pray 
to some faceless God he claims rules all lands. 

As guardian of all people in our town, 
I pledge to protect everyone from harm 
and rule with justice cases in my court, 
but my son mocks me as the tyrant clown 
then curses my heart with sigillic charm 
till I run frightened from my haunted fort. 

Alone in formless forest of blind ghosts, 
I flee through endless groves of laughing trees 
to escape claws of the woman who smiles, 
but I hear echo of my haughty boasts 
that I am greatest king to rule the seas 
because I fool demons with clever wiles. 

Unlike Timon or Job who felt betrayed 
after losing everything they held dear, 
I will not linger by the howling sea 
and curse misfortune of my unearned fate 
because I am the willful engineer 
who orchestrates all that happens to me. 

While I wander lost on the roadless plain 
far from busy markets in city maze 
I meet no omnipotent deity 
who claims to have created the world plane 
and stuns my mind with epiphanic daze 
so I perceive state of reality. 

Lost in bleak wilderness for forty years, 
with no brave tribe of slaves following me 
to found world empire in the Promised Land, 
I ponder how to design engine gears 
that translate energy of swirling seas 
to electric power that lights Wonderland. 

Preaching salvation of the Afterlife 
to people who search for meaningful hope, 
I convert the circus into the church 
where I teach lost souls to overcome strife 
with special techniques they can use to cope 
as we live till death in our fruitless search.