The Fighting Prophet - Muhammad Ali Poem by Smoky Hoss

'They're afraid of me, because I speak words that can set men free.'
- Muhammad Ali

Ask me if you must why I
love Muhammad Ali, and I
will ask you as I must,
why wouldn't you?

He was a king in the ring.
A prophet to paupers.
A flash of light hurled
by God
into a dark and down world.
Beautiful, sleek and strong,
one of the very few
who bravely distinguished right from wrong.
Not afraid to speak out
or make a public stand,
a rare and magnificent breed:
that being, a real man.
He, like no other, transcended
sport and race,
time and place,
color and religion,
and through it all gave to so many
a voice and a vision.
Helping the world
to see,
the way things are, and
the way things should be.

We all were captivated
when the vaunted fell
to his rope-a-dope, and
we all were blessed
when we fell under the spell
of his irrepressible message of hope.

He was a pauper and a prince.
A pugilist and a prophet.
And though many in fear tried, none
his message of equality, could stop it.
For by God he was sent
to the right place and time precisely,
with a special vision of justice given
to all humanity.

Muhammad Ali thank you
for all you gave us,
you are
The Greatest.