Cyrnus: A liberal arts poem
“From sound men you will learn
sound lessons.” Theognis
There is nothing outside of the text. I
read it once on Pinterest.
And I immediately thought of Cyrnus,
covered in advice about traveling,
and advice about searching the depths
of his mind, and advice about morality.
These things don't always seem
compatible, but I am yet young.
You must be prepared to go a long way,
Cyrnus, to find truth.
And its best to read for it walking in
the middle of the road.
But youth isn't prone to walking in the
middle of anything, and the text doesn't help.
We straddle the edges, listening first
to the sound man who says Peace,
then turning to the sound man who says
Patriotism, worrying about punctuation,
wondering about intent. What if the
text was sarcastic? How do we know?
Which was Theognis?
At some point, Cyrnus will toss aside
the writings of his sound mentor.
At some point he will block the texts,
turn his head, and run.
And this is where I empathize, this
point of easy failure.
He will embody human insolence, wincing
from the test.
The student becomes love's labour lost,
embracing subtleties that,
when spoken, refute all logic. I do it
all the time.
Its a simple matter to believe that
basest counterfeit, turn our faces,
and test the disposure of our enemies.
And still Theognis says Go a long way
within yourself,
and take great pains. Read thoroughly
in your own mind.
You may yet find a good man.
But probably not. After all,
Cyrnus and I find life difficult,
texting in the middle of the road.
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