How did it happen? He, who years before
counseled prefects and nobles in weighty matters
was preaching now, unkempt, his robes in tatters,
asquat out on the hard piazza floor.
They say his words took on a fevered tone-
Unified opposites. Universal flame!
The pathways up and downward are yet the same!
The few who stopped to hear moved quickly on.
Most said he was insane. Some said obscure-
deep intellect yes, but plagued by incoherence.
Such philosophers win few adherents.
Whatever ailed his mind, he sought no cure.
I heard he succumbed to dropsy and psychosis.
It was rumored he wrote the fragments from his mind
into a book for far pupils to find
someday, who might then fix the diagnosis.
Bill Taylor 2017