A man passing through the city Athens had claimed
He could read a person's face and know their story.
He spied Socrates, the gross and hideous knave,
And said, "This man has performed every vile sin;
He has committed every basest of vices."
***
"Look at his fat nose, the mark of many beatings
See his rags, unfit for a true and decent man
Observe his countenance and awful, pungent smell
Conceive of his shame, that which he himself ignores
For he is shameless in his trespass of the law
And he is unburdened by the will of Justice
This man is the worst kind of criminal for sure."
***
And to these words Socrates said, "you know me sir."
***
On the day before the face reader visited,
Socrates had wandered to each home in Athens.
He questioned on things above and below the earth
And incurred the deadly wrath of Athens' masters
In his trial, "The Apology" it was called,
He claimed he visited the oracles to hear
the answer to the most burning question he had
***
"Who is wiser than Socrates," he boldly asked
"No one is wiser than Socrates," they replied.
***
Socrates sought to know; he knew very little
He spoke of the truth, "I know that I know Nothing."
But then I must ask him, what does it mean to know?
"I know of only two things: Beauty and Justice!"
But if he knows two things, how can he know nothing?
Then after, he was made to drink Hemlock poison
And the truth was concealed, for its foul wisdom.
***
The students of Socrates wept tears at his death
and they wrote stories of his myriad wisdoms.
The ugly sinner claimed to know of what he lacked
That of Justice and of Beauty he swore to know
And came to a conclusion from all he observed:
Beauty is Justice, and Justice is beautiful.
Socrates sought to be a beautiful person
So to justify his actions to the people.
***
But the people of Athens saw only a swine.
They refused to hear his eloquent words at all
and shut their eyes to his soul laid bare before them
And only as he passed did they see their folly
They saw the injustice of their actions too late.
And so Socrates died, but swore he would live on.
The death of Socrates was a beautiful death.
***
True Beauty is an ageless and formless concept
Socrates timeless death immortalized his life
He died as he should have lived, and lives as he died
Transcendence, if it's real, is an unmatched artwork
What then is Justice if not the pursuit of art?
Morality is absolute, but the law bends.
At times, even killers can appear beautiful
And sometimes, a victim can seem ugly and wrong
War against wretchedness is all that is Justice.
***
Socrates found his beauty in his final breath
Then I ask to the people of the world who live
Will it be mine too before I am beautiful?