Identifying the Didaskalos

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IDENTIFYING THE DIDASKALOS*


He is the hungry man who sits

on heaven's portico, not quite

dead enough to sunder wide 

the heavy doors and enter wide-

eyed into life, not yet hopeless

to the point of trickling off to dead-

end shelters where they dole 

out broth and promise it will


all be over soon. He’ll stay until

they summon him across. Till

then he leans against the doors

to catch a scattered syllable or 

two, then scuttles off to share

the bits he heard, or hopes he heard—

something about a well, a feast.

             Go see!, he says. Imagine what I missed!



                            * Teacher

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