Long, Long, Long-term Effect of Love on Thought

Modern poetry modern verse contemporary poetry contemporary verse modern poem contemporary poem

Who knew that those who love philosophy

Love sex?  Parmenides and Zeno had

It off like Indian gymnosophy

Adherents—if their genitals were glad.

Parmenides taught Zeno well enough

That later on in life the youthful one

Attacked the teachings that he thought were guff

From others.  So this younger, truthful one

Believed that all was one, was one unchanged,

Unchanging entity, that motion, space

And everything—and other thoughts—deranged.

He proved this with his teacher’s body’s grace.

  Well, maybe not.  The paradoxes he

    Deployed destroyed the other minds’ Plan B.

~ Phillip Whidden