Student Publishing Program ::

William Lehman

Always the King

I live on a river,
I live on a lane.

I live on a river,
Whenever it rains.

There’s always a flood,
The street’s made of mud.

I hear a wet thud,
Someone fell in the mud.

I open my door to laugh in their face,
But the sight that I see makes me stop in my place.

The person I see has a hole in their face,
And the ripped open hole opens up into space.

From the hole comes a flood,
Now the river is blood.

So instead of brown mud,
The street is red blood.

The bodies fall down,
They’re going to drown.

Now I’m falling down,
And away flies my crown.

It’s gone from my head,
Because others have bled.

I put my hand to my head,
And it fills me with dread.

I’m feeling a hole,
And out flies my soul.

It’s blacker than coal,
If you can call it a soul.

Now my soul has been drowned,
It’s been trapped underground.

By all the people who drowned,
My soul has been crowned.

Now my soul is the king,
It’s a beautiful thing.

Only on a king,
Can coal shine like a ring.

[TABLE OF CONTENTS, LHS CLASS OF 2012 EDITION]