Socrates in a Dark Alley
Poetry by Dominique Gerald Cimafranca | Sunday, September 23rd, 2007
Beware this ancient agent of wisdom
At the prime of his faculties
Before he was brought low by his drink
Beware the searching lantern eyes
Ever on the lookout
For the honest men of Greece
Beware the sharp silver tongue
That cuts with the confounding power of truth
Implacable corruptor of Athens’ fair-haired youth!
To him, all ground is fertile
Nowhere sacred, nowhere safe
Be it market, forum, palace, or temple
Beware those wiry hands
That reach out and grab
For victims of his method
Then with the force of a knife
He wrenches an answer to the essential question:
“Your money or your life?”