“Last Stop on the Journey Back in Time” by John Grey

I was too late to witness
Socrates take the hemlock.

Much as I tried to shuffle back
through the wise men,
the poisoners were a step ahead of me.

It wasn't to hear him speak
on piety and justice,
though I’d have been as spellbound
as the rest

But to be there at the moment
when truth predicates murder,
to see the latter’s eyes at
the moment of triumph

as if a deadly glass
could ever trump the philosophy
that binds our culture.

 
But, much as I tried,
I only got as far
as my mother saying,
"Forget this writing bunk,
get a real job/”

Artist Statement

The poem is just an example of poking fun at myself. It's a key part of my writing credo. Take your writing seriously but yourself not so much. And, by the way, my mother, when she was alive, was always supportive of whatever I did.  

Even imagining myself back in Ancient Greece.

John Grey is an Australian poet, US resident, recently published in New World Writing, River And South and Tenth Muse. Latest books, Subject Matters, Between Two Fires, and Covert are available through Amazon. Work upcoming in Paterson Literary Review, White Wall Review and Cantos.