Barefoot King

Barefoot king (of a little piece of land)
crown made of morning.
Barefoot king (with a cutlass in his hand)
richest man I know.

He got a half-acre plot and a zinc-top home,
a hand-dug well and a garden grown.
Breadfruit tree that his father set,
a hammock and a dog and no regret.
The bank don't know him, and he like it so —
he owe no man from head to toe.
He measure his wealth in the evening breeze,
in the pot on the fire and the yard at ease.

The city cousin come with the shiny car,
say, "Country man, you could go so far."
He laugh and point where the mango swing:
"Far from what? I live like a king."

Barefoot king on his own good ground, (king, king)
a porch for a throne, birds for a crown.
No gate, no guard, no golden thing —
contentment make the barefoot king.

Barefoot king. (own good ground)
Barefoot king. (birds for a crown)
Contentment is the crown he wear.

The radio talk about the market fall,
he pick two ears of corn, not bothered at all.
His pension is the soil and the seasons' rhyme,
his clock is the rooster, keeping perfect time.
Neighbours come by when the crop come in,
he share it with a wave and a gap-tooth grin.
He sleep when it dark and he rise when it light —
never met a pill for his appetite.

The city cousin come with the shiny car,
say, "Country man, you could go so far."
He laugh and point where the mango swing:
"Far from what? I live like a king."

Barefoot king on his own good ground, (king, king)
a porch for a throne, birds for a crown.
No gate, no guard, no golden thing —
contentment make the barefoot king.

The cousin drove home in the leather and chrome,
stuck in the traffic, phone full, alone —
thinking 'bout a hammock and a breadfruit tree,
and which one of them was truly free.

(barefoot king, on his own good ground)
The mango drop when the mango sweet, (king, king)
kingdom growing at his feet.

Barefoot king on his own good ground, (king, king)
a porch for a throne, birds for a crown.
The whole world running to buy a ring —
contentment made the barefoot king.

Barefoot king (of a little piece of land)
crown made of morning.
Richest man I know.