The Pauper, The Prince and The Poet

By Justine C. Tajonera

"Whosoever is delighted in solitude is either a wild beast or a god." - Francis Bacon

If poverty meant solitude
and solitude meant
beast-like or
god-like
existence,
then the poet
would be a
pauper.

If abundance meant solitude
and solitude meant
beast-like or
god-like
existence,
then the poet
would be a
prince.

Or are there three
people in this story:
the pauper, the prince and
the poet?

For to be a poet,
would it not mean that
he is both pauper
and prince?

Does the weight of a leaf
and the grief
it signifies
have anything to do
with the observer's
pocket?

What would afford
a poet her
vision?

Would it be the lack
or the glut
of coin?

I turn the question
around and around
in my head:

there is no answer.

There is a word for
pauper, for prince
and for poet.

Each one has a meaning
and each one is
meaningless
if I so
choose.

(Jan. 9, 2010)

Image from http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:The_Prince_and_the_Pauper_1881_p20.jpg