[Creative Writing Contest] Priorities

Priorities

The good king walked past the drowning child

For there was much at stake -

A dragon had been running wild

And countless lives would be lost in its wake.

The king was praised for a level head

Since anyone else in his place

Would have jumped in to save the lad,

Forgetting the rest of the human race.

And so the people learned to prioritize

Following their great leader.

It became easier to avert their eyes

From irrelevant pleaders.

For, you see, reason dictates that

One must aim for the greatest good.

Therefore, our kingdom must combat

First, the vilest evil that it could.

Once the dragon lay dead on the ground,

The king tallied the score.

Five hundred million children drowned,

But not a single one more.