Alexander The Great Poem by Liilia Talts Morrison

There was a man whose span of years
Would never reach too far
Unlike his conquests of the world
Led by a lucky star

They say he spawned a million dreams
In hordes of downcast souls
Who heretofore had been denied
A chance to reach for goals

They say he had an eye so blue
It almost matched the sky
The other was reputed dark
Though none had seen them cry

They say he fondly would embrace
The customs of the East
Encouraging his troops to blend
In oriental feasts

When Egypt fell under his spell
They made him king and god
And even age old enemies
Would give this man their nod

They say so many cities bore
His name and honored ways
A man, a hero, conqueror
Though sickness cut his days

He was no brutal man of war
But loved to learn and read
Absorbing, sharing cultures, ways
By higher laws decreed

We will not conquer lands or seas
Be crowned as trumpets blare
But we can learn from strangers' ways
Like Alexander dared.