A Tale of Two Kings

Poem by Rocco Valentini

Artwork Sourced from Pinterest. Artist: Charles Ernest Butler.

A Tale of Two Kings

by Antonio Rocco S. (Rocco Valentini)

Revered by the public for his reputation and accolades;
He is a king whose crown is made of fools' gold.
Monitoring the Overton Window to maintain his charade;
He is a performance artist whose act has been sold.

He doesn't care about merit; he is shapeless and without color;
With no substance of his own, his ambition couldn't be clearer.
He cares about being great in the eyes of others;
For in the eyes of others, he sees himself in a funhouse mirror.

Reviled by the public for his reputation and accolades,
He is a king whose crown is made of thorns.
Unwilling to adjust his views or put on a charade;
His resolve remains unshaken and he endures their scorn.

He holds that the universe is knowable and not strange;
That there is no rolling of the dice or hidden plan.
He has the courage to acknowledge what he cannot change
And the strength to change what he can.

Triumph emerges from banishing shadows of uncertainty,
Great men approach their quest like knights upon a wagon.
Their greatness is forged on the anvil of adversity;
For there can be no hero without a trial, no Arthur without a dragon.