Diogenes the Cynic

Two thousand years ago in ancient Greece.
In the land of Jason and the Golden Fleece.
Lived a man who despised wealth, pleasure and position,
Possessions, reputation, and ambition.
Diogenes the Cynic he was called,
By dishonesty and lies he was appalled.

He walked the streets of Athens with his lantern, staff and faithful hound,
But to his dismay an honest man was nowhere to be found.
The famous and powerful came to see him from afar,
Though he lived on the roadside in a clay storage jar.
One day a young king called Alexander of Macedon,
Was elected to replace his father as hegemon.

Alexander the Great became his name,
Through all Greece and Persia spread his fame.
My father will leave me nothing to do,
Was his baseless lament and anguished rue.
He came to Corinth, that great City State,
To be like a god was his preordained fate,
(To consult an oracle about his fate)

Alexander went out to visit the wise man,
To find him butt-naked enjoying a tan.
He greeted Diogenes in a manner most formal,
The philosopher was silent as if it were normal.
The king politely enquired if there was something he wanted,
He had merely to say and it would be granted.
Ask me for anything, he said, and it will be done,
Stand aside young king, you’re blocking my sun.

The kings courtiers and general’s joked and muttered,
Astonished at the words he’d uttered.
Alexander his rowdy followers cut short,
With a shrewd reply and grave retort:
If I were not me,
That man in the gutter I would be.
We are both made of flesh and blood and of manly loin,
We are merely the flip sides of the same coin.
And whereas I seek to travel far,
This man is happy to live in a jar.

Costas Ayiotis