(When my son and I studied world history together, we enjoyed the legend of Alexander the Great. In that spirit, I composed this poem.)

There once was a Macedon lad
Whose mind was a trifling mad.
At twelve years of age,
He fancied it sage
To render Bucephalus glad.

The boy on his horse would aspire
To better his average sire.
King Philip was mild
Compared to his child,
Whose spirit consumed like a fire.

At twenty, the bellicose man
Embarked on a grandiose plan.
With dagger and shield
And soldiers to wield
His empire swelled quite a span.

In Egypt, where ships ever sail,
He carried the crook and the flail.
In Persia he led
As Darius fled
Like a dog with a quivering tail.

There never was fortress to stall
The lord with a lust for the brawl.
He seized with a slam
Of his battering ram
An island surrounded by wall.

But in India vigor was spent
And soldiers began to dissent.
They pleaded, "No more!
We're tired and sore."
The conqueror sulked in his tent.

Conceding at last to his fate,
He ordered his men to abate.
Along their way back
A germ would attack
And overtake Alex the Great.

© 2007 All rights reserved

Michelle Claus

http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/alexander-the-great/