Mason, king

Brother Rudyard Kipling offers

a clue or two on masonry

in his wonderful tale spinning

the most audacious thing in fiction

“The Man Who Would Be King.”

“Supposing I was to ask you

As a stranger going to the West

to seek for that which was lost

What would you say then?”

I should answer “Where do

you come from?” From the East,

and I am hoping that you will

give my message on the square

for the sake of the widow’s son.

Which lodge do you hail from?

Once a mason always a mason.

It’s an ancient order dedicated

to the brotherhood of man

under the all-seeing eye of God.

Some audacious scholars can even

trace it back to the builders of

Solomon’s Temple. Fellows in the Craft,

said Peachy Carnehan and Daniel Dravot

on going to Kafiristan: “They’ve two and thirty

Idols there, so we’ll be 33rd and 34th.”

We met upon the level and

we’re parting on the square,

Alexander the Great was one

and he was even there.