A Cautionary Fable... (Political Poetry)

“The world is flat,” he said to all

“The rest are only saying lies

If I could find a mountain tall

I’d prove it to your very eyes”

.

And so his wish his people served

Led to a peak high in the clouds

From where he saw the world was curved

But called out to the waiting crowd

.

“How flat the world is from this mount!

How scientists have let you down

More times than even I can count;”

And cheering, they bestowed a crown.

.

Some from the people he now ruled

Climbed up the mount and shared his view

To curry favor, friends they fooled

And echoed every breath he drew

.

All this hurrah came in a day

When all the land that he did rule

Was suffering in most every way

From hunger harsh and illness cruel

.

Still, scientists a group did send

To mountain’s top, and saw the light

Illuminate horizon’s bend.

They came back down, now proven right.

.

He screamed, and to the group appealed

“They lie! They cheat! My eyes have seen

The flatness of the world revealed!

They want my great crown to demean.”

.

Most people saw, and walked away,

Convinced the world was as they knew

But others stood, held in his sway

And cursed the scientists anew.

.

He bellowed out for all to hear

“The problem is the mount’s too small

Lift me higher, and never fear

You’ll see it’s flat once and for all.”

.

Those who clung to his hem came

And raised him up another time

While others swore his every claim

Despite not having made the climb.

.

Once again, he screamed from high

“I see the edge, sharp as a knife”

And once again, science did spy

The arc of earth now come to life

.

His acolytes the crowd did whip

Ignoring what was plain and clear

As now he called for one fast ship

For others to the edge to steer.

.

“Money matters not” he argued loud

While many went without a meal

He called for more cash from his crowd

As minions echoed his appeal

.

A golden ship was quickly found

And to the north its crew set out

Circling the globe all way around

But still he stoked the crowds’ blind doubt

.

“They want for me to be to blame

They plot to use this for a coup

Defend my crown! Defy their claim!

Trust me, what I say is true...”

.

“A rocket ship to go on high

Is what I need to show me right”

So one was sent into the sky

In search of proof in darkest night.

.

When none was found, his anger grew

And still his people stood and cheered

They blamed the astronauts that flew

And their good names were quickly smeared

.

While all his efforts came to naught

And failed were the plans he’d laid

Deep in his castle, never caught

He counted all the coins he’d made

.

Having filled enough bags with the gold

Of his fans who had kept their trust

He sent out one more cry in bold

“Keep faith in me! Believe you must!”

.

The land he’d ruled lay in despair

The people broke, and sick or dead

From selfishness and lack of care...

He filled his trunk, and finally fled

.

Despite their coffers bare of stuff

Despite the proof before their eyes

His jesters carried on his bluff

And swore allegiance to his lies

.

This story has a moral clear

That those who care for just their own

And lack a soul by which to steer

Must never wear a people’s crown

.

When shown a legacy of lies

Of loss by other’s cash redeemed

Of selfish graft, a life unwise,

We must accept things are as seemed

.

We cannot give our faith or hand

To those who for themselves just fend.

With empty purse and country damned.

Will always that sad story end.