SHOW US A GLIMPSE

 by Alan Fine

WHO WAS the first king of Greece,
       Or the first five emperors of China?
How many Louies reigned in France,
       Or Ceasars in Rome?
Did you know of them? What they did?
       How they lived?  Were they short or tall?
Did they have any substance at all?

You’d remember Moses, Bach, Divinci,
       Aristotle and Decarte;
You’d remember Alexander,
       But not like Shakespeare or Mozart;

For you can build the tallest building,
       Live inside the largest house;
            Have all the land and all the food,
       All the jewels and all the gold;

You can take the seat of power,
            And declare yourself a God;
      Mint a coin in your honor,
            Build a tower like Nimrod;

But only those will last
            Of the kingdom of world’s past,
      With heart and soul,
            And everything that makes us feel,
      And dreams that take us into real,
            That erase the lines of space and time,

 Copyright © 1985 by Alan Fine, Minneapolis, MN, All Rights Reserved