of Issue #2
Page 2 of 2
HOMAGE TO SEXTUS EMPIRICUS
1
Philosophy
brings her so much
pleasure
Charlotte has considered
Switching her major
From musical theater
To an equally insupportable one
and sends me
a text message signed
Sextus Empiricus
"in our
individual
peculiarities
we differ in
such a way
that some
people digest
beef more
easily than
rock-fish, and
get diarrhea
from weak
Lesbian wine"
To which I respond
that while she might
go to sleep with the Stoics
she will probably
wake up
with Skeptics
2
Charlotte calls me
to explain
her latest message from Sextus
points to differences
between people and behaviors
that make it
difficult to draw hard
or fast
conclusions:
"He (Sextus)
Goes on to talk about
Tibido the Roman
a soldier who
eats human brains
We don't know much more
about him (Tibido) who
like so many others
remains lost
in the mists
of history."
today I find another text
in which she
again cites (Sextus)
the authority
on keeping
an open
mind
"Some people
say they would
rather eat
their father's head
than beans."