Daily writing prompt
If you could have dinner with any philosopher, who would it be?
Inviting Socrates to dine at home
with us is, as always, your idea.
You always leave out Xenophon, even
Plato is not asked to come dine with us.
You know Soc. likes his words to be written
in their limpid but authoritative
style, and not storied over by thin talk
from our poor crowd. Oh well! He'll sit again
At our table's head and joke the drink tastes
Good as hemlock on an empty stomach.
The last event we staged he even made
a speech as if it was the last ever
he might make, pointing to the stain of damp
in our yet unmended roof , and moaning
that he did not want to die like that fool
Aristotle, a tortoise ton of weight
Falling suddenly on his noble pate.
No way can we this philosopher calm
Once he's on his roll, though you turn around
And weep, as if with laughter, or pretend
to sleep because it's past your time for bed.
No, though you hide your head, he'll 'just a 'small' drink'
Accept, 'before I go'. It leads of course
To another round of dialectical
Exchange, usually about love. and what
A hunk that soldier was he last denied
His favour. After all, he said, Sex is
better in the head, or so he said then.
Bye for now
Love Steven xxxxxxxx
Of course Socrates died, from the hemlock he was ordered to drink, well before Aristotle met his end in Macedonia. But presumably he must be a ghost and, well, ghosts forget. Indeed it surprises me he did not take on much later philosophical successors – Kant perhaps.
Steve_Bamlett_blog 