A Hard Lesson for King Midas
Nobody wishes now
To be King Midas, who,
By wishing, showed us how
Wishes can come too true,
Can court catastrophe.
King Midas asked too much.
He wished and instantly
Was given the golden touch,
Which meant he turned whatever
He touched, including food,
Into gold. (Metal should never—
No matter what!—be chewed.)
King Midas found a cure
For this once-wished-for curse—
Luckily, since things were
Headed from bad to worse.
To be King Midas, who,
By wishing, showed us how
Wishes can come too true,
Can court catastrophe.
King Midas asked too much.
He wished and instantly
Was given the golden touch,
Which meant he turned whatever
He touched, including food,
Into gold. (Metal should never—
No matter what!—be chewed.)
King Midas found a cure
For this once-wished-for curse—
Luckily, since things were
Headed from bad to worse.
This poem is copyright (©) Charles Hughes 2024
About the Writer
Charles Hughes
Charles has published two books of poems for adults, The Evening Sky (2020) and Cave Art (2014), both from Wiseblood Books. He used to work as a lawyer but now works at writing poems.