he did not come to be a king ….

kings build armies
raise up swords
tear things down
seek power only for the sake
of taking
dignity away from the poor ….

*he*
was poor
a healer
a teacher
of stories

he sought no glory

he took what was evil
covered with pus & lesions
& made it clean
he loved women
& men
then said
“listen!
go & do likewise!
do not despise
your mother your father
your sister your son”

he did not come to be a king

kings are crowned
with gold
wear fancy shoes
neckties/nooses
bling & suits

his clothes were simple
cotton-white
his sandals
walked the dusty ground
his only crown
made of spite:
bittersweet stems
of a thornéd rose

he came as a child
first & foremost

” … emptied himself,
taking the form of a servant,
being born in human likeness.
And being found in human form,
he humbled himself ….”

he did not come to be a king ….

to steal elections
or decimate tribes
no pork no private planes
no bribes

he traveled in boats of fishermen
rode on the back of a humble beast
was not afraid to mingle & feast
with outcasts last on any prince’s list

rabbi teacher mystic
who was this man?
who left nothing
written by hand
no complicated rules
who *forgave* even the most
obnoxious of fools …..

if we try to see a *king*
we will be blind –

if it is simplicity we seek
love we hope to find
we will see the light
the sweetness
the sublime

in every face we see
the eyes
of love
god in his wisdom
mirrors
of you & me

(c) November 2010
by Phyllis J. Hanniver