The Rag Blog: VERSE / Larry Piltz : The Sage, the Sophist, and Some Populists

03 February 2010

VERSE / Larry Piltz : The Sage, the Sophist, and Some Populists

"The Wise Man" by Jim Warren / Jim Warren Studios.

New Perfection
(The Sage, the Sophist, and Some Populists)

The sage says
the world is perfect
already arrived
yet arriving still
and drifts back
into meditation

The sophist explains
that perfection is the standard
by which we need measure
all earthly pursuits
and that if we fall short
it must be our fault
because the world is perfect
and then moves on
to scold the next town

I say perfection is a concept
by which sophists earn a living
and forego responsibility
to think deeply enough
about anything more meaningful
than their own ambitions
and that sages have it right
that what is will have to do
but could use worldly experience
to further prove their theory
and to help improve perfection
and its lagging reputation

Some populists say
don't let the perfect
be the enemy of the good
but they might should consider
making the good a reality
so as not to be the enemy
of either

Larry Piltz / The Rag Blog

Indian Cove
Austin, Texas
February 3, 2010

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