Novyy Nachalo [Meaning “New Start” in Russian]

 

By: Charles Metcs

 

[The main light shines on the center of the stage, everything else behind it is blacked out, on the center of the stage is the protagonist Erik Schriner with his arms out in a cross position and his head looking down, he raises his head and begins a monologue directed at the audience] 

“Survivor, that is my name now [sigh]…but it wasn’t always. I was once just a little helpless Erik Schriner, a village boy from the country of Latvia, no possible idea of the life journey I was about to embark upon. As a child I grew up in an Eastern European country meaning I was always surrounded by snow, small buildings, turnips and peppermint tea and work everybody everywhere. But then one day…they came, the men from him…Joseph Stalin. They burst through our house and snatched my mother, little sister and I from our cotton beds, the last time for a long time we would see or feel comfort cradling us like children in the dark night, the last time we would stop and gaze at the moonlight shining down from above.  We were removed so fast my father, a factory worker, didn’t even have enough time to rush to the cellar and grab his rifle, but he wouldn’t have made a difference. These men were unstoppable like the monsters in the ghost stories we were told as children. We were rushed to the train station and were shoved into a car full of others stuck in the same predicament as us. No explanation, no sympathy just silence and confusion to consume us on our long, cold trip to Hell…what they called the Gulags. Not many know of the Gulags, they were the Man of Steel’s most infamous creation in his empire known as the Soviet Union. Cesspools of brutal labor, sickness, abuse and much, much loss awaited us in the freezing wilderness of Siberia, the harsh Northeast of Russia, with no escape or mercy. So how did I end up here after so many years of having to bear all that, well one thing Hell taught me was self-reliance, which means faith in ourselves. Faith to me has always been Humanity’s greatest motivator I found it in that horrid place amidst everything else and never let it go. It helped me trust the future, because the future is never truly set.”

[The center light then goes off and blizzard wind sounds can be heard and blue light then come up and lights the whole stage revealing the set of a Gulag. From Stage Left a Guard walks on towards a gate set piece in the center. Then from the right Erik, his mother and little sister walk on slowly looking sad. Harsh music comes on as they approach the gate a prisoner runs on from stage left with a shovel followed by another guard who joins the other Guard at the Gate. Erik watches the boy as he’s working digging up the ground with the shovel, the scratching metal sound of the shovel can be heard. The Guard then separates Erik from his family and pushes him toward left as he yells for his family and cries and he gets pushed on the ground eventually. The other Guard pushes his family out and closes the Gate. The mother is forced to the grab the little sister as she runs toward Erik and pulls her away off the stage. Erik then runs toward the gate but is grabbed by the other guard and begins a fight with him, he knocks the guard on the ground and gets up but is hit in the face with the shovel by the Guard, who grabbed the shovel from the prisoner during the fight. The Guard then gets up and the two run off stage.

[The music then goes off and Erik’s crying and grunting can be heard as he is trying to pull himself off the ground the prisoner looks around and then puts down his shovel and lifts out his hand in front of Erik and pulls him up.]

The Prisoner: “Are you alright”.

Erik: [While wiping his tears] Wha…what happened, where am I…where is my family [He grabs the prisoners lapels and yells] WHERE ARE THEY! [He begins to cry again]

[The Prisoner hugs and says] “You are in a Gulag, a Siberian labor camp, my name’s Yuri it’s 1941 and I’ve been here for 6 years since 1935 and I’m 30 years old, in my six years I’ve seen very horrific things happen to people my age but I assure you I won’t let them happen to you I want to help you survive as I have but you need to start by facing reality, I’m sorry but they’re gone”.

Erik: [crying hardly]”No”.

Yuri: “I’m very sorry but it’s true”.

Erik: “Can you at least tell me where they went”.

Yuri: “This camp is full once again, people die all the time in here so therefore new ones are needed to take their places. You were lucky enough to be one of them and not have to suffer the fear and confusion of where you’re headed all over again. There are hundreds more of these in this part of the world they’re headed for the next one, I’m sorry but you won’t see them for a while.”

Yuri: “But I’ll be your friend, what’s your name”.

Erik: “Erik…Erik Schriner”.

Yuri: “I like that name where are you from”.

Erik: “I was born in a small town, practically a village, in Northern Latvia I guess I’m used to this kind of weather now cold snow and harsh winds, but I’d much rather be there than here”.

Yuri: “We have 2 things in common it seems, we’re both from Latvia, except I’m from the South, much greener. I was born on a potato farm but it was burned to the ground when the squads came and I like you was separated from my parents”.

Erik: “I’m sorry”.

Yuri: “Please don’t be you didn’t do a thing, you know the worst thing I’ve had to deal with throughout all my years here up till now”?

Erik: “What”.

Yuri: “I still don’t truly know why I’m in here, it seems that neither does anyone else”.

Erik: “What do you mean”?

Yuri: “Well the farm I grew up on has been owned by my family for 5 generations but soldiers from the despicable Communist regime we live under now showed up and stated that we had to give it up so they could build homes and factories on top of it for the citizens from the cities. They saw it as an act of greed and selfishness to claim so many acres of land as their own and threatened us to share it with the rest of the people, my parents refused, they kept their honor, so they burnt it to the ground and took them and therefore me, being related to who they call traitors as well. But it makes no sense, my family built that farm from the ground up for hundreds of years they plowed, grew and pulled those crops with their bare hands from the ground so they could the feed the starving people just outside of our home, not for money, not for praise just because it was the right thing to do. It’s their creation, their hard work their pride but the now its theirs to build their factories on and the city people’s to build their homes on none of them helped create it so why should they share it. Why should all their life’s work be burnt down and destroyed for the prosperity of others, it shouldn’t be. That’s the worst thing about our government today they don’t value the strength and hard work or creativity of men and women.”

Erik: “I suppose your right”.

Yuri: “Why are you in here, you come from a home non secluded from everyone else I’d like to here your perspective”?

Erik: “Well, my father was a factory worker and my mother worked at home as a house wife just as hard doing our laundry, cleaning, cooking feeding all of us ensuring our survival but because she didn’t make money doing it and didn’t work outside like my father she was declared a criminal by them we were taken as well because they saw us as lazy kids because we were without jobs and my father was left alone, he’ll probably never see us again all because we didn’t make money like him, we weren’t ready to work but I guess we have to be now”.

Yuri: “You see, if you’re not the same as everyone else, who in reality is who the regime wants them to be, you’re branded a criminal or traitor and sent here even if you don’t know who you are yet, it’s crazy. But I’ve learned that this is my life now and I may as well make the most of it, will you do the same Erik”.

Erik: “Yeah, I’ve known you for only a few minutes but you’ve told me things I would never think of hearing my whole life, thank you”.

[Just then stomps are heard off stage and Yuri starts to work]

Erik: “Yuri what is it”.

Yuri: “The Guards are back just say nothing”!

[One of the Guards approaches Erik from stage left pulls him up and puts a shovel in his hand and the other says then lets go and slaps him]

Guard: “You attacked my guard earlier, that is unacceptable in this camp, there are rules that must be followed to maintain order. There is us and there is you and we are above you and you will work for us to make up for your crimes or you will be shot and don’t except a funeral. When you attacked my guard I was angered but impressed, you seem strong enough to carry out the tasks we command but you need to learn to respect authority, this is your last chance boy. Our main intention with all this is not to give you what you deserve but to help reform you into respectable citizens in the new society who don’t put themselves above everyone else and who respect one authority and hold the needs of society closer than the selfish needs of themselves. So welcome to the Gulag you will be here awhile boy and you better straighten yourself up.”

[He looks at both Erik and Yuri and yells] “NOW BACK TO WORK…ALL OF YOU”

[The sound of clinking shovels are heard and Erik starts to dig next to Yuri as the second guard begins to walk back and forth across the stage as the other leaves]

Yuri: “I told you they’re bad but just do what they say and stay close to me, one day this will all end and we will be free maybe even find our ways back home, always remember that it will give you faith”

Erik: “I always will, thank you Yuri”

[The center light then goes off as the two smile and work and Yuri walks off stage and it comes back up to show Erik alone in the middle and the light changes to yellow and morning calm wind can be heard, the 2^nd Guard is also on stage watching over Erik working]

[Erik stares at the audience and gives another monologue directed at them in a different older sounding voice] “Summer, 1954, but not the summer you’d think. Birds chirping, sun shining, green grass and flowers all around, not here in Siberia nothing changes around here the wind is just a bit quieter and the air is more brisk. But anyway I’m 26 now, 13 years in this place and nothing has changed, all day long everyday we just chunk up dirt that’s frozen solid to the ground and dig up the rocks beneath and move them to a big pile at the other end of the camp where they just sit there and get harder, sometimes when we discover boulders we take pick axes to them to make them smaller. We never even get to go inside for food they bring us stale loaves of bread for us to pick apart like savages but it still doesn’t satisfy our hunger it just increases it. I’ve seen many awful things in here, innocent men and women losing their limbs and skin to the frostbite and dying out here in the cold, harsh blizzards with the guards not even having the common decency to drag their bodies back to the barracks. They just let them dissolve into the ground for us to dig up and bury their bones over and over again until we go through the same. I’ve long lost my motivation since the death of my friend Yuri since they killed him, I know nothing of the rest of family, I don’t even know what’s happening in the world beyond this frozen rock we don’t get newspapers just letters from the evil overlords up in Moscow and that just tell the guards the same thing, push on nothing more. Even after the passing of the Minister of Death himself, Joseph Stalin, nothing has changed. I’m tired, I’m sick, but I’m surviving and I’m faithful as Yuri taught me but even that is fading away.

[It then jumps back into the play as Erik works and the main guard walks out with a piece of paper] Guard: “ALL OF YOU LISTEN UP, it is a day of change for the union as you all know our former leader and above all comrade Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin has died, and our new Premier Nikita Sergeyevich Khrushchev since taking office has made promises to keep guiding our country in a fair and prosperous direction. Especially with the USSR’s new nuclear defense initiative in this raging Cold War against the United States of America and their new President Dwight D. Eisenhower he promises to protect our fair Communist system against their immoral Western capitalist ways. But he has also advocated for the Human rights of Soviet citizens, that being you, and considers this camp a symbol of oppression and fear against all who have suffered and lived through it and today effective immediately you are all to be released as the Gulags have been declared no more”. [The Guard gives a look of remorse as a cheering sound effect can be heard]

[Erik then stares at the guard amidst the cheering and drops his shovel and walks away the guard then approaches him]

Guard: “Erik, Erik”.

Erik: “You know I’m not going to turn around I’m never looking back at this place again.”

Guard: “Erik you’re a strong willed worker and person, physically and mentally you have survived better than anyone else, we could use a man like you on our military”.

Erik: “Why do you need an army anymore with this whole arms race going on, it seems with nuclear weapons and defense all at the push of a button you don’t need the strong will and loyalty of brave good men anymore just like in here, I spit on your army and your union”.

[He then spits on his badge and the two guards beat him and the main holds a knife to his head and says]”Your lucky the laws have changed or I would take your life faster than you would ever realize, I was wrong your just a stupid weak boy like your friend Yuri who we rightfully killed and your family who you couldn’t save all those years ago, now go out into the snow and do us all a favor and die and you’ll realize that all your faith from all these years has just been a gigantic waste, like you, goodbye Erik”.

[The two guards then walk away and one of the other says]”Stupid boy”

[Erik then gets up and begins to limp out of the camp and yells] Erik: “IS THIS WHAT YOU WANT …WHY ME! [He starts crying and limps off stage]

[He limps on stage again and a new set of a town stops and begins another monologue toward the audience] Erik: “I’ve been walking for hours now through, snow and forest no sign of civilization or common decency. I’m just lost, broken, alone, tired and hopeless…most of all hopeless. I don’t know what I did to deserve this, but I’ve just accepted my fate…[sigh] I’m going to die I can feel the cold bitter wind eating at my skin and freezing up everything inside me my bones, my mind. There’s nothing I can do to stop it it’s going to kill me, I don’t know if I deserve to die or if I did anything wrong but if I did I’m sorry, I think I can try having one last sleep and at least I’ll die peacefully, goodbye.” [The character then jumps back again and falls into the ground out of fatigue and begins to sleep].

[The lighting then changes and weird dream music, yet dark and intense starts to play and weird lighting indicating it’s a nightmare/flashback]

[It then shows the Guard having a conversation with Yuri while the other guard watches Erik work]

Guard #1: “Now you see Yuri, this boy has been a nuisance to us lately we’ve heard him badmouthing our cause and we feel there is only one catalyst you. You’ve been here a long time and you know what we stand by now for but he does not and you’re poisoning his mind with your judgment of wrong and you’re ruining his chances of reformation. But we feel punishing you alone would be inferior to what we’ve decided. We will beat him in front of you as you care for him, it will fill you with guilt and knock the evil ideas out of his head before they spread, Guard.”

[The Guard pushes Erik on the ground and starts to stop him until Yuri gets up and pushes him on the ground but is shot by the other guard with a gun]

[The second Guard gets up and the first one says]”Well I suppose this should be punishing enough for you Erik and for him, now get back to work”.

 

If nothing comes from nothing then how can everlasting not be,

Beyond our cradle is no end but another window into the greatness of infinity.

It is all intwined in the glory of the sempiternal,

We will never conquer nor destroy it only marvel for our curiosity is eternal.

 

The stars align with each other like a cosmic waltz about to take place,

The planets form an alignment on the canvas of black space.

Why is it most never realize the atomity of their existence,

If only they could the world would travel such a great distance.

 

Narcissism would be all but dead,

The value of knowledge would not be seen with such dread.

For there is no knowledge except the morsels we scavenge off the face of Earth,

It is impossible to know everything for all the infinite is worth.

 

That is what gives life purpose just like the sailor and the sea.

The exploration and discovery at the will of the power of uncertainty.

How long will it take to not end atop the mountain with the mind locked,

When the valley below is all but waiting to be walked.

 

Explanation:

This piece to me is heavily inspired by my love of Greek Philosophy. What I have taken away from reading the works of many of the greatest minds of all time, in this case the Ionians, is the impossibility of knowing everything. According to Melissus if nothing comes from nothing then what is beyond the Universe cannot be the former as it is indeed something; the beyond. Therefore the Universe must be infinite and therefore the knowledge and discoveries to be made within it are too. I’m all about practical research, as philosophers and ancient scientists such as Pythagoras, Parmenides, Melissus, Anaxagoras, and Leucippus pioneered. This means always keeping an open mind and having the courage to question existing narratives about the nature of existence. However, this also means accepting that one’s answer is only ever maybe true or not true at all. This humbleness is the only way knowledge can be obtained and the mind can mature and grow. This newly discovered mental power could then be used to advance and stabilize the world as well, as seen with what it did to the great Civilization of Ancient Greece. For according to Parmenides all reality is material, meaning it must have properties which can be used to explain it, and that anything not material is simply just theory and can only be speculated until proper research can be done.

In the immortal words of Socrates of Athens;

“The only true wisdom is knowing that you know nothing.” 

I float through the sweet pink cotton candy clouds of the dusk right before the gumdrop dawn. The lemon sun shines upon the crisp caramel stream and it glistens as the smell of morning sugar, coffee, and cinnamon permeates the air. The fudge mountains with their ice cream peaks grow tenfold as the rainbow sprinkle, cherry, and chocolate chip storm tops them off in a blizzard of wonder and dreams. The sky grows lighter orange just like the beautiful sherbet peach meadows, as the marshmallow rocks smell as though they’ve been delighting for millennia. I witness this landscape of delight and dive my spoon in, and enjoy my dessert.

Ancient Greek Philosophy

The Ancient Greeks had an inherit genius when it came to thinking, inventing, and philosophy, it was just in the nature of their culture. They did not inherit any of their ideas or discoveries from anyone or anywhere else. The impact of their discoveries and ideas on Western civilization cannot be ignored and must be researched.

Pre-Socratic Philosophy

Ionia

In the Kingdom of Ionia [On the coast of Greek controlled Anatolia] philosophy found its origins in the writings of poets Homer and Hesiod, both of Greek origin. In his epic poems “The Iliad” and “The Odyssey” the blind Homer wrote and warned about the flaws of men which can lead to both their dooms and those of others, mythology also was a huge theme within them. Hesiod’s many poems were criticisms of corruption within Greek society. For example, in his most famous poem “Works and Days” he criticized the corruption of the legal and economic systems of Greece and proposed a system where people must work for and invest their money into the economy in order to grow it as it cannot just be handed out to irresponsible recipients. They had told these poems to the citizens of their towns around fires at night as a manner of inspiring reflection within them. This idea of using writings to influence human behavior is what gave birth to the concept of philosophy, which was used as a method of explaining the Universe and its contents.

 

Thales is considered to be the the world’s first philosopher as he theorized that water is the universal element as it exists in all living things on Earth.

Thales’s successor Anaximander had challenged the former’s hypothesis by stating that the Earth is made up of multiple different elements, this supported his philosophy of “Unity in Difference”.

Anaximander’s successor Anaximenes was able to combine elements of science and mythology together in his philosophy.

Ex. He explained how rainbows are created. They occur when white sunlight refracts off of dark rain clouds and is filtered through a prism. Though to emphasize the limited nature of his discovery and overall knowledge in the Universe he brought in elements of mythology by stating that the rain was brought upon by the Gods to avoid asking further questions, as most of these early Greek-Ionian Philosophers did. The power of the Gods could not be questioned or explained same as the depth of knowledge in the world and Universe.

 

The Pythagoreans

The philosopher Pythagoras was born on Samos [A Greek island off the coast of Ionia] and eventually opened a school in Kronos [a town in Southern Italy] where his students and eventual followers were named appropriately after their teacher. The Pythagoreans were praised for separating philosophy from religion.

The Pythagorean philosophy was based in mathematics and centred around the belief that numbers could be used to explain everything in the Universe.

Step 1] Everything in the Universe begins at 1.

Step 2] One builds their knowledge one step at a time, just like counting one at a time.

Step 3] Over time they accumulate new facts, which can lead them to new subjects.

4] Eventually this new-found knowledge can change the way one sees the world.

Ex. Examine the triangle below

        .

      .   .

    .   .   .

.    .    .    .

If one counts using these dots by adding one more each time they will eventually add up to 10 and form a perfect triangle as seen above. This triangle can be applied to the world in numerous ways from architecture, to art, to astronomy, etc. Knowledge in the Universe is infinite just like numbers and doesn’t need supernatural elements to explain it, rather just practical approaches to research and learning. The Pythagorean methods of math had influenced many later mathematicians of Ancient Greece such as the father of traditional geometry Euclid of Alexandria [A Greek Port City in Egypt], Eratosthenes, and Ptolemy. Their philosophy of research and learning had also influenced the later Athenian philosophers most notably Aristotle.

Since their philosophy could be applied to so many different topics such as art, music, astronomy, etc. they helped create the concept of schools, which allowed students to study broad ranges of topics.

 

 

Heraclitus

Philosopher Heraclitus was born in Ephesus [A Greek city on the coast of Ionia] and was best known for criticizing the deductive method of his predecessors. He claimed that existing discoveries are only hypothesis and can only be deemed as fact through experimentation. If the hypothesis cannot be applied to reality, then it is merely theory or false. He was one of the first critical thinkers with his blatant debunking of previous ideas as “fact” even though they can not be applied to reality.

 

Ex. He had criticized Anaximander’s philosophy of “Unity in Difference” by arguing for “Difference in Unity”. He used fire as an elemental analogy for his philosophy seeing as that no matter how many different elements are added to a fire, while the appearance may change, most notably size, the basic material structure of it does not change. This indicated to Heraclitus that unity over difference is what creates strong and prosperous societies. In his mind societies must adhere to their origins in order to preserve their values and strength, just as individual people should.  Change is a natural state of Human development but should only be attempted when it is sustainable to society, and the only way to differentiate good change from bad change is through conflict, which once again can never be predicted.

-He also believed that there is still a possibly of a God or Creator of the Universe but had advocated that a belief in God should be a psychological rather than demanding practice, as in questioning the nature of existence of all without being consumed by theory as that leads to dogma in people.

 

Parmenides and Melissus

He was born in Elia, a town on the northwestern coast of Crete, and opened a school within the town as well. He was responsible for giving method to the critical philosophy of Heraclitus.

He suggested that nothing comes from nothing and that no piece of matter can become, it simply just is, in the context of being. Beings have the ability to be anything they want, there is no pre-determined destiny or fate, as that would mean the becoming would have to come from nothing, which is impossible. If reality is real then it must be material, as material elements can be explained due to their identifiable properties.

His student Melissus born on Samos also theorized that the Universe must be infinite, even if there is nothing beyond our’s. That nothing is something, for it is the beyond. The scale of the Universe cannot be explained nor comprehended fully ever. We can only build upon our research of the never ending as the mathematical philosophy of Pythagoras demands.

 

Zeno

He was also born in Elia and became a student of the former Parmenides and Melissus and had spent his life attempting to prove their philosophies true. He did this by creating complex riddles and puzzles to challenge thinkers, the latter being heavily based in math.

Ex.  Set 1 [The Length of the Race] 123456789

Set 2 [The tortoise’s speed]     123456789

Set 3 [Achilles’s speed]                       123456789

As one can see there are three sets of numbers above, each from 1 to 9. The second and third sets are used to represent the motion of two objects. Zeno explores this example in his story of “Achilles and the Tortoise”, part of his book of paradoxes. Achilles will clearly run faster than the tortoise and his speed compared to the former gives him an advantage, as by the time the race has begun he has already reached the halfway point of the first set of 9, being 5. He then runs his 9 paces and ends up 4 paces beyond the end of the first set of 9. Whilst the tortoise may take longer to reach Achilles’ true starting point, by the time it gets there it will have moved four paces. The tortoise’s four paces are equivalent to the five to nine, 4, paces Achilles ran beyond the first set of 9 in the diagram, both object’s paces are separated by a set of four in between them below the first set’s 5 to 9. Therefore, both objects have moved the same distance according to Zeno’s riddle.

From this riddle Zeno claimed that motion is impossible and that no man is faster than another, they are just at different starting points in the Universe which ultimately lead to the same destination. This echoed Parmenides’s philosophy that there is no pre-determined destiny for a man as the Universe and its opportunities are infinite, anyone can achieve anything as long as they are intellectually motivated to do so. Zeno reinforced the latter through his clever and sly writings, which forced his followers to think outside of the norm to solve his great puzzles.

Empedocles

He was born in Arkagas, Sicily and was, like the former Zeno, a student of Parmenides’s school. He became a philosopher and poet and based his writings on the concept of love. He wrote that an individual can only grow as an individual through love, meaning acceptance of every situation which comes to challenge their way of life. He built on Heraclitus’s example of fire, a fire will always remain the same in its material identity but will grow in external facts such as size and temperature as long as other materials are continuously added to it. He helped revive the idea of art being mixed with philosophy, like Homer and Hesiod, as his style did not rely on mythology or religion to enhance the already philosophical writing.

Anaxagoras

He was of Greek-Persian decent and born in Clazomenae, Anatolia and had built on Parmenides and Melissus’s theory of the Universe and its contents being infinite going even further to claim that the contents within the contents is as well. He once famously quotes “In everything there is a portion of everything.”

Ex. When a biotic organism is decomposed within an environment, in this case grass, then the flesh of the carcass would become part of the grass, which helps it grow in the long term. The subsequent oxygen produced by the grass, which we as Human Beings breath in then must be part grass, just as the carbon we exhale which the grass takes in is part Human. It is an endless cycle of matter and illustrates that every element within the Universe is related in some way, just as Heraclitus’s concept of “Difference in Identity” states.

Leucippus, Democritus, and the Atomist School

Leucippus was born in Miletus, a Greek city on the west coast of Anatolia, and whose name was fictitious. It was given to him by the later Athenian Philosophers Theophrastus and Aristotle, as his true identity was never known. Leucippus also receives more credit for the creation of the Atomist School of thought, as Democritus followed his methods later on during the Socratic Period.

Leucippus was not a philosopher but a scientist, though he is significant for his knowledge of all the pre-Socratic philosophy, which he applied to scientific research of matter within the Universe. He had pioneered what is today known as mechanical research, step by step, and spent much time studying the nature of atoms, the particles which make up all matter.

He hypothesized that existing bodies of matter form from different atoms coming together, and those existing atoms come from the formation of others, and so on. This concept is known as “Vortex Theory”, as in a vortex there are endless circles which continue to spiral upon each other forever. This is similar to how matter is formed from all types of elements coming together, the total contents and quantity of which can never be truly known. This is just like how planets are formed when large quantities of different atoms form molecules that create the giant infinite bodies that take up space in the Universe.

He and eventually Democritus in the Socratic Period were important for their methods of scientific research, which combined and perfected the ideas of all previous philosophers of the pre-Socratic period. This led to creation of the Atomist School which inspired numerous more Greek thinkers who were able to expand and advance the knowledge and contents of Greek civilization.

Summary

Pre-Socratic Philosophy was heavily centered not on the study of Man but rather of the world around him. These Philosophers studied the cosmos and beyond and their methods always attempted to remain calculated and rational, in the scientific sense, as were their debating styles whenever they stumbled upon disagreement. They asked many questions but were never able to truly answer them, as they believed there are no true answers in the Universe. The later Philosophers of Ancient Greece, namely Athens, would apply the Ionian methods of research and teaching to their philosophies, which however concerned the nature of man over objects.

Sources

Frederick Copleston, S.J., “A History of Philosophy – Volume 1: Greece and Rome – From Pre-Socrates to Plotinus”, 1962

The blood of their brothers seeps into the mud as the steel hawks caw above.

All the while the smell of death in the misty air rises like a black new dawn,

Below they brave the steaming jungles as the rains crush them with brawn.

 

Back home their farms lay barren and their factories rusted out.

Just as the flower people spit upon the their ignorant clout,

The families think of their sons’ return with disdain and doubt.

 

The rice paddies reduced to ash as the Marxist snake changes position in the grass,

It waits till just the right moment to strike shattering the men’s dreams like glass.

They drag them to the horror camps like the devil’s slaves in dreaded chains.

 

Their minds will be poisoned with all the worst traumas,

While their children back home cry in the night for their mamas.

For they feel the pain of their brothers and papas.

 

Can they return to their homeland as champions of Liberty,

Or will they succumb to the dark side of revisionist history.

For it is those who squander heroes that keep us from victory.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The water flows as the sky sways,

It shimmers in the sunlight and to many it makes their days.

Like two forbidden lovers they remain apart,

Each reflects off the other like a dance from the heart.

The feeling of the cool blue breeze kissing the air,

The luscious all high I can’t help but stop and stare.

 

 

It creeps upon one like a spider in the night, 

It seeps its venom into you and creates a great fright. 

The demons and martyrs of Hell’s writings take you for a sheep, 

Cackling as they crawl all over you in your sleep.

 

You feel helpless, ashamed, and weak, 

You can’t imagine the others before you who gave into it, their legacies are bleak.

Are you to be one of those shriveled leaves in the winter which falls, 

On the frosted ground as it hears the fleeing birds’ calls.

 

They fly South for the season where it is warm and blue, 

Nothing holding them back for they are driven, free, and true.

We aspire to be like them flapping our wings away from the fears, 

Us, just like them, never having to taste the salt of our tears. 

 

In the breezy morning they brave the yonder to a new beginning, 

The dark clouds will not deter them as their shame is thinning. 

They hope for the morning where their beaks and the warm breeze will kiss, 

Where the demons are no longer existent and they would finally be at bliss.