Who Rules?

Who rules the world?
The hand that rocks the cradle?
The hand that holds the purse strings?
The one that holds the sceptre or the one that weilds the pen?

The question begets another
What pray do you mean by rule?
The power over others isn't it?
The glee one feels when the puppets dance

The desire to break free
The wish to fly
Unshackle the manacles
And just be myself

The grim reality
The sad realisation
That however much I try
I can never be free

Life depends on breath and food
It depends on give and take
My freedom surely is when I can take more than I give
So I need power, which will make it happen

So my wish to rule
To ride roughshod over others
To see them cringe
To see them bow

And yet freedom looms far away
The lure of the siren drives me crazy
Salivating, I run after the crown
I totter as if in spirits I drown

The summit yes it is in sight
Just that last heave and all is mine
Tarry a while what do I see
The summit eludes for it was supine

All along I was in the flat
The mirage of the challenge was just a trap
I try to see through the haze
So many like me trapped in the maze

Undecided to laugh or to have rage
I look around if anyone saw my chase
The fox going after his tail
In endless circles, efforts doomed to fail

So the conquest is like old wine
The more you drink, the more you shine
But it is mere drunken stupor
This chase for the elusive power

The chase was bad
For there was nothing to be had
Yet it was fun while it lasted
Even though it was all futile

So who rules the world, tell me my friend
The jester for he makes me smile
He hides his wickedness behind his jokes
And makes me dance in quests of the new

The jester, yes the jester sir
He makes you believe what he says is true
He plants those memes that make you think
Needless beliefs that make your head shrink

Freedom comes when you learn to give
Simply because you love yourself true
Chase not power, thinking it makes you secure
For security like power, is always within you