The Emperor takes the throne
but you are my King.
A mob shouts “We have no king but Caesar!”
but your God is the ruler of my heart.
The emperor’s nightmares, meant to frighten me
do not frighten me.
Your dream, O King,
is not a dream to me but real
as life.
He enriches his empire;
you give us each other.
He assumes his power,
vain assumption; you lay yours down
and an empire unfolds.
He asks my loyalty to him;
I shall not give nor lend.
You ask none but to your God.
I give my self.
The emperor asserts his greatness for his term,
but the children of light are not swayed.
Our gentleness has risen, like yours, beloved King,
from what will not be seen
until the morning of the third day after.
The emperor cannot know
what our King has already seen.