a person is as a kingdom and can afford some losses

The moral is 

simple: don’t 

help other people 

with their secrets. 

But within the 

self, what defense 

is there against 

the pharaohs who 

demand chambers 

we must build 

on pain of death 

after which 

we’re killed? 

A person is 

as a kingdom 

and can afford 

some losses toward 

the construction of 

underground systems, 

say the pharaohs, 

shutting their 

cunning doors 

that never were 

and won’t be 

evermore. 

 

[Kay Ryan {1945- } 'The Pharoahs' from The Best of It]