The Venerable, Ancient Need
“And Socrates the philosopher, who despised everything, was, for all that,
subdued by the beauty of Alcibiades; as also was the venerable Aristotle
by the beauty of his pupil Phaselites.” ~ Athenaeus, Deipnosophistae, XIII, 906
The never changing needs are with us. They
Brood, like the beauty of a petrified
Tree’s wood. Both are colorful and hard. They stay
Destruction’s hand. Unending need is wide
Like our imagination of the seas
Of myth, Aegean, Adriatic skies,
And Attic sweetness like the Sirens’ pleas
That would have drowned a hero more unwise.
Some needs cannot be banished. They are strong
Against the will of iron minded men
And longer than millennia are long.
Needs lurk within the heart’s most sacred den.
..Philosophers pretend. The saints deny.
….Some needs are beautiful. They do not die.