Am I king? Am I prince?
Am I nobility of any sort, you ask, in fact?
I say, you laugh
Or perhaps I say, “You laugh.”
For a king of that, I am. “A king of words,” I say.
If I am a prince it is of the moon, alone.
If I am a baron it is of the earth, alone.
If I am a chief it is of the rivers, the lakes, the seas.

If you ask if I am a maker,
Then I am maker of the bark.
Then I am a builder of the sunrise
A creator of the leaves

If you ask, are you a man?
Then aye, and yes I am a man.
A man of the trees
A man of the birds
A man of the air

Am I villain too? you might add.
A villain I might be, no doubt, perhaps a hero too.
If I am villain then I am a villain of the silt and the river banks.
If I am a hero then I am the hero of the flowers.

But ask not if I am a king, ask not if I am a builder, ask not if I am a hero or a villain.
I know not those things, who does when their time comes?

Ask only if I am man, and of that I am certain

You will know my manhood.

If not as you see it then as I am it
My manhood is the moon. My manhood is the sky. My manhood is the earth.

If I am a lord it is of the sun
If I am a lover it is of the summer breeze
If I am a king, I am a man