A Poem for Consideration

George III:

I am the King. I tell, I am not TOLD. I am the VERB, sir, not the OBJECT.

(from The Madness of King George, 1994)

“The Seed of Madness”

King George was

            The VERB.

King George was

A word of action who tells but

Is not to be TOLD.

King George was the one who acts, not the

OBJECT to be acted upon.

In such does the seed of madness sprout.

            The coat splits under a pressure that he cannot resist.

He is powerless to stem the forces that will spiral

            DOWN to the roots of the ego to be fed

                                    an unending torrent of need

and then to spring to the surface and

            UP in the illusory warmth of denial.