Poetry Explorer


Classic and Contemporary Poetry


RULERS by FENTON JOHNSON

First Line: IT IS SAID MANY A KING IN TROUBLED EUROPE WOULD SELL HIS CROWN
Last Line: IN PHILADELPHIA.
Subject(s): AFRICAN AMERICANS; NEGROES; AMERICAN BLACKS;

It is said that many a king in troubled Europe would sell
his crown for a day of happiness.
I have seen a monarch who held tightly the jewel
of happiness.
On Lombard Street in Philadelphia, as evening dropped
to earth,
I gazed upon a laborer duskier than a sky devoid of moon.
He was seated on a throne of flour bags, waving his hand
imperiously as two small boys played on their guitars
the ragtime tunes of the day.
God's blessing on the monarch who rules on Lombard Street
in Philadelphia.



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