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The teacher
Between stone outlines
the ground of the Agora is littered
with the bits and pieces
of broken stones and twigs
and I must be careful
where I step.
Our guide points
out the prison of Socrates
and I linger behind,
my mind unwilling to accept
the weight
of this history.
He would be saddened,
I think,
but not surprised,
to know that the centuries
have done little to erase
hypocrisy and injustice,
they
are not so fragile
as stone.
This poem was written in Jan 93 as part of my project on an Honors trip to Egypt and Greece, which was a life changing experience for me. It was published that year in Calliope, the annual journal at Chapman University. It was one of only 8 poems chosen.
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| I like the "out the prison of Socrates" it pulls the entire poem together from beginning to end.You address the importance and value of hisotory but address the notions of "what has changed, what has remained the same?" This is a powerful poem. Nice work. |
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Comment by: Beck Online- 2006-12-02 07:05
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| I always find the most interesting thing about going to places with great history is not so much the place itself but the way it makes me think about the people that lived there. This poem reminds me of that. |
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| I would of loved to go to Egypt, first of all. Second of all, on the poem itself. Its beat has a nice flow, and I think that the "out the prison of Socrates" is the line that stands out the most to me. I liked the whole thing, it brings a moment of thought in my mind, but if you change or edit anything, I suggest keeping that line. It stands out! |
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| Well, thank you - "cultured" hmmmm, nice compliment!! |
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Thought provoking, and I pictured this actually being read aloud on the tips of a mountain, or in the midst of some wonderful Grecian (I prefer that word to Greek, Grecian just sounds so romantically inclined!) monument, with the musty and dusty --but yet victorious--smell of the long lost days of the ancients upon Mount Olympus.
And I did always like Hades in the Disney movie Hercules
*winks*
Thankyou for a beautiful and cultured read |
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