Eze Onyeagwalam

I am a king, do not tell me;
I am Eze Onyeagwalam,
No one speaks to me.
So it was that one day
Eze Onyeagwalam went
To the market
With excreta in his pants
And the kingdom of flies for escort;
Nobody sold him anything,
And no one spoke -
All covered their noses at him.
He was exasperated.
Why does no one speak to me!
A silent voice chided then,
Are you not Eze Onyeagwalam?
No one tells you anything.

(Eze Onyeagwalam literally means \'King Tell-me-nothing\'. This poem is adapted from Ibo folklore.)