The Peasant King

A noble King of justice true
Looked out his window, saw a view
Of all his subjects, great and small,
And he was not impressed at all.

The rich and poor both stole and lied,
They walked around all full of pride,
They killed whomever they saw fit
And scarcely even thought of it.

The King write up a new decree:
"Please change your ways right now," said he.
His subjects followed it at first
But then they went back to their worst.

The King tried punishing their ways
But did not like to end their days
Because he was a loving King
And to him they meant everything.

And so the kind King`s tender heart
Was full of grief and torn apart.
He longed to teach them what was right
And save them from their darkened plight.

The King sat down and thought it through
And then he knew just what to do.
The time had come, it must be done
By him alone, the only one.

He threw his golden sceptre down,
Put aside his jewelled crown,
Took the rings off from his hand,
Dressed in peasants` garments and...

Stepped in among his people.

Dirt
Filth
Sickness
Dying
Cheating
Lying
Fears
Everywhere
Pain
Grief
Hate
Sadness
Badness
Madness
Tears.
He shed tears.

And then he stood up
And lived among them.
He spoke things they`d never heard
And every phrase, every word
Was like bread
To a nation
Of starvation
Trapped in degradation.
It was like water in the desert sand -
Raindrops on a thirsty land.
It was like light
In the night
Of a blind man`s sight.
He said love when they said hate;
He lived his life to demonstrate
Strange things they could not contemplate.
They punished but he forgave;
They came to destroy; he came to save
Until one day they said,
"He`s too brave.
He`s leading astray
The people who obey
Only us. So Let's do away
With this fellow.
He`s probably some beggar anyway.

So they captured this "beggar,"
Brought him to court,
Gave a false report,
Cut the hearing short
With a loud "execution!"
In chains he was bound,
Forced to the ground -
He made no sound.
They beat him, swore at him, gave him a clout -
He did not cry out,
Not a single shout,
Made no plea
Against accusations of heresy.

Once he told them, "I`m the King."
They laughed. "You are not anything."
They led him to the Central Square.
The people that he helped were there.
They said nothing,
Did nothing.
One person yelled, "Go ahead. Kill him. We don`t care."
Not at all dismayed,
They raised the blade
And with one thud -
A splash of crimson ruby blood -
They killed the King.

And there was darkness.

They threw his body in a pit.
What was it?
Hardly a grave
Fit for a slave -
Now for a dead King.
With a few shovels of dirt
They covered everything
And they left.

Three days later a child walked by,
Saw the grave, began to cry.
She knew the man they buried there.
Her family had followed him everywhere.

She picked some flowers and returned,
Then saw what made her quite concerned.
The grave was empty... He was gone.
What could possibly be going on?

She told the town, the message spread.
"They stole his body," they all said.
And then the ones who killed him came;
They knew they could not kill his fame.

"Go back to work! Forget all this!
What useless nonsense this all is!
Some beggar died, was buried down.
That`s no excuse to rouse the town!"

But then
They stopped,
Went weak,
Could not speak,
Started to shake,
Realized their mistake.

For on the road there stood a man once dead -
The man they killed, who suffered, bled
In flesh and blood - alive
He did arrive
And he in all his bloodstained glory stood
More beautifully than all his killers could,
His scars of love more dear
Than his murderers' golden robes of fear.

He said,
"You killed a King
Who chose to give up everything
To save his people, see?
Now they are free.
I`ve paid their cost with all of me.
But your darkness cannot kill
Compassion and good will.
They`ll say love when you say hate;
They`ll live their lives to demonstrate
Strange things this world can`t contemplate.
When you punish, they'll forgive.
You can kill, but their souls live
And as long as they shall follow me
They`ll never take your slavery."