Oh, Man King! Poem by Joseph S. Josephides

The king ordered Josephus to dig for him tunnels.

The first tunnel leads him to the bank
to save his valuables until the next ceremony.

Through the second he strands in the sensual,
in the nearby hotel that employs female artists;
there he pokes diamonds in his underpants,
each of them squeaking in trying to grab them.

The third one leads to the Ministry of Defense;
in case the crowd revolts, he could escape
as a ragged man-in-the-street, pulling a cart
with his crown, his scepter and his mantle.

Oh, man king! Your tragedy is a comedy.

But Josephus wants his soul be pure,
so he digs for himself a secret tunnel
to reach his friends out in moonlight
where they would recite a new world,
next to the gold-fingered embroiderers,
away from those gilded domes.*



© JosephJosephides