AN ODE TO THE EMPEROR 

          for Stuart

It may take

going completely bankrupt,

losing your family fortune

trying to make a killing

in the rice trade,

for instance.

It may take this

or something else…

But the day will come

when you have nothing left to lose

and it is then you finally decide

to claim your sovereignty,

to live your life like an emperor,

and with the bravura and bravado

no city slickers dare dispute.

From this vantage point

you will see bridges 
and tunnels under oceans

that no one else can see.

From this regal ground

everything you say

is a declaration, a proclamation, a decree

that is your currency, the legal tender

that pays your way

from one day to the next.

Some may call you mad,

others may immortalize you,

ink you into the annals and pages of time.

No matter.

You are bigger than any slur

or fiction anyone can muster.

You are bigger than life itself.

Because you show us all

that the only Congress worth having

is the counsel with the Self.

And therein lies the true territory

worth prospecting and protecting.

This is the only claim worth keeping.