Absurd – impossible – not done,
not even kings recite
such audacious, crowing fame:
eleven stars, the moon, the sun
all bowing in the night?
Joseph, what contrary frame
of mind would make you say such things?
Your words, your dreams, your coat all reek
of egotistical rot –
you will not reign over me!
All this attention that you seek
just shows how much you’ve fought
rightful status. Yield or flee!
Your stinking dreams will not be missed.
Stan Galloway teaches writing and literature at Bridgewater College in Virginia. His poetry has appeared online at vox poetica. It has been published in Midnight Zoo, the Burroughs Bulletin, WestWard Quarterly, and most recently, in the book Edgar Rice Burroughs: The Second Century. His book of literary criticism, The Teenage Tarzan, came out in January 2010.