If I was the King of the forest.
IF I was the king of the forest.
A Poem by Coyote Poetry
Old memories and old dreams.
If I was the King of the Forest.
American Soldiers drinking with boisterous and loud German women and men in a guesthouse.
Celebrating the May festival in Stuttgart in 1978.
Drinking the cognac and good beer.
One of the German men yelled “A toast and a song.”
He ordered a round of cognac for the table.
He raised his cup and spoke. “To peace and no more war.”
He begin to sing. ” If I was the King of the forest. I would have only friends. I would have no hunger and the people would dance and celebrate being alive.
Guns would be forgotten. War would because a myth.
If I was the king of the forest. People would not live with fear. All races and religion would be content.
Murder and death forgotten. This would be my wish. If I was the king of the forest.”
He told us. “Toast to peace and utopia. I pray one day will come.”
I left my celebrating friends. I wrote a poem.
If I was the king of the forest.
If I was the kind of the forest. Wishes would become true.
I close my eyes.
Allowing my mind to travel to a summer day when youth was my wealth.
King of the forest.
When I was unstoppable and all dreams were in reach.
If I could.
Be able to close my eyes. Again be unafraid.
For when I close my eyes.
I don’t remember the victories.
I feel the burden of mistakes only.
If I was the King of the forest.
Love would be forever.
Love would be my only desire.
For if I was King of the forest.
No-one could stop me from saving the world from the hunger
to destroy all things that are beautiful.
For If I was the king.
I would teach the child to love and to have great dreams.
I would erase thousand years of war and hate.
For if.
I could take away all the blood upon each hands,
maybe we could walk unafraid of other.
The King, I shall be.
Only in set-up dreams.
For my world is like a wild beast,
running toward death.
And I the King.
Can watch as drugs and alcohol steal all the hope and dreams of youth.
Rich men leading the world to a self-suicide.
Bringing death and wounds to the young people learning to live.
I.
Will stand and watch.
For only in dreams shall I find the strength to battle.
For the words of the King.
Cannot be heard through the scream of the suffering.
Coyote
1978/re-write 2013
as I read your words one more time I felt like I knew you
then …I realize you were in Germany the same time as I was…
so many were never the same form those “Daze”
I was stationed at Hindenburg Kaserne and Leighton Barracks….
its you energy that feels familiar….
this was very thought-remembering….
Take Care…
)0(
maryrose
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I was close by. In Boblingen, Germany. I did a lot of roaming. It was a beautiful place. Thank you for reading and the comment.
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Wonderful! BTW…love the photo!
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Old photo. Germany was a beautiful place. Thank you for reading and the comment.
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This is a particularly fine piece John. I was in Germany for a while, with the military. cognac flowed freely, always with coke…not a fan, but they kept coming :-).so true: drugs and alcohol steal all the hope and dreams of youth.” This piece is filled with nostalgia and melancholy for me, I still have friends struggling with their addictions.
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In 1977. The world was like today. No jobs and a lot of struggle. The youth need a outlet. If give them limited choice. They can find the bad one’s. Thank you for reading and the comment.
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Great writing John.
Lots of love
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Old thoughts written when I was young. Funny life and world is the same. In 1977. World was in the same boat as today. Thank you reading and the comment.
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This is lovely John~
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Thank you Cindy. Old hope and dreams are the same 30 years later.
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“And I the King.
Can watch as drugs and alcohol steal all the hope and dreams of youth.
Rich men leading the world to a self-suicide.
Bringing death and wounds to the young people learning to live.”
This was a section that really got to me, specifically the truth of these ideas. “Rich men leading the world to a self-suicide” is a perfect way to describe what is going on in our society.
Great piece!
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In the USA. We have one of the worst poor to rich radius in this world. 3.2 trillion spend on war in 2011. War is big business. A quarter of every dollar we pay in federal taxes is given to contractors and maintaining the military. Sad fact is. USA spend more than the complete world on war. I wish for days when kids didn’t need war to have a real and full-time job with good pay. Thank you for reading and the comment.
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