Have You Seen The King? Poem by Sarah Mkhonza

Given this life to lead,
With Nothing but hope,
Dropped into your hand,
In years past by life,
Have you seen the king you are?

To be given to go ahead,
Into a future of fantasy,
Makes you a prince,
Who can find a Cinderella,
where the cinders are.

Did you look in the right place?
Did you throw away the ash,
That remained after the cinders,
Without seeing your picture,
In there with a crown,
On this very head of yours.

How can you be a king,
Given a destiny to lead,
And then not know,
That you will be nothing,
If the king in you is asleep?
For kings like big beds,
And rule with scepters that write,
The very poem they live themselves.

Your majesty I call on you,
To walk the tightrope with pride,
For people want to follow you,
But they cannot follow a turtle,
Whose head goes in at the slightest sound.

Rise with leopard skin pride,
Take the strides of a cheetah,
Overtake time with your gusto,
And land with a double fold,
On the other side and stand,
For your kingdom needs this stirring,
That awakens even the dead,
Who attest long after it is done,
A real king was here,
For you can see the royal trail,
With all the followers' foot prints,
Imprinted on the sand.

Once you asked with need,
If I could be king of my own,
This kingdom this fief,
Then you were given the heart,
It told you you were king,
Then you asked it to knock,
With the sound of the scepter,
And it did just that,
Then you gave up and walked away,
Arguing you were a subject.

Whose subject are you Oh King?
Subject of others you say,
Nobody claims a citizen,
That is not a patriot,
For that begins in your heart,
For power is a choice you make,
People do not follow one who abdicates.