Robert Bellah's Wisdom Poem by Bill Grace

The prophet lead us truly that day
And helped us see with painful clarity
That Homer and Socrates were far from dead,
That to be the center of the universe serves no one well,
A centered pot belly asking hard questions
A far better thing to be.
Plato burned his plays because of him.

It was the only time I ever saw
A class stand and applaud.
We knew we had a model
To help understand a vast malaise
If we could find the courage
To face the hemlock lingering in our own cups.