You, finder of empty spots, Last dollars, Ends of notebooks never reached, Spent ink, Deeper longing, a restless night, Open roads, Dried grass, and crossing interstate lanes, Like a dragonfly just above the lake, Are you any of these things? Are you a body in this world? Or more?
The Stoic
Aspiration and Attainment
Excellence in virtue is a lonely place of the exceptional. There is chasm between the aspired self and the attainment of arete. How does one reconcile with the aim of virtue without choosing to live in a barrel with stray dogs? Looking at you Diogenes.
Though, choosing this path will take you from the flow of the mainstream. Do you think that makes you better than any other? Look to become more ascetic, that is the only way.
Ask yourself, ‘what does it take’? You find the imagined, perfect, self on your pilgrimage. They turn to you, in some sage way, and says, “you attain that which you desire most only when you desire it less”. Their form then turns into the cherry blossoms, and they’re carried of into the wind, eidolon ever on.
Seneca and the Self
Perhaps the most controversial figure in Stoicism is the Seneca in the letters and in person. The difference proves the point above. So much so was there a difference that false bust and the real bust of him is an entirely different person. He was a rich man in aid to a terrible leader, Nero. Even the conditions of his banishment were dubious. Do any of those conditions aim to detract from his teachings?
I argue not. He longed to be the Stoic he wrote about. Tried valiantly. The eudemonic orientation should be just out of reach. Excellence should always be a near mark, just out of sight, like a mountain in the distance. You do not get a full appreciation of its grandeur until it is right on top of you. Respect the bar which excellence is at.
The question at the end is: are you made of more? Can you do more? Can you refine the self towards greater virtue? Can you do so without the ego getting in the way?
The Poetic
Choosing the Right Words
Universal in the specific. A poem in list is not a random assortment of items. They are picked for aesthetic value, how the syllables fit, and what they do to the overall “feel” of the poem.
That is where practice comes in. Practice in poetry makes the esoteric manageable.Take as many stabs at it as it takes to land that killing shot.
This poem is trying to reconcile mankind with nature. It is the hope to become closer, in concert with nature: like a dragonfly just above the lake.
Minor Housekeeping
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