In the Providence of Seneca
by Michael Doyle

In the age of ancient tyranny
When Rome had lost its liberty
Even a good man might compromise
For the partial good seen in his eyes

Though at times, it took its toll
To hide his better angels in the shadows
Such were the times that it must be done
For Rome was never subject to the setting sun

In the final analysis made
Correspondence with oneself brings from the shade
As epistles one's mortal soul
Finding what sense might be made of his role

As Seneca found himself with God, face to face
He was confronted with this embrace
As a Stoic, he found himself again
Where all of reality actually does begin

The proof of God is found in all around
Where stars and sea meet and abound
Nature provides its able testimony
Every breath of life is a blessing from Divinity

In all that happens, God is always showing
That mankind might always be knowing
The perfection of creation felt in its traces
Its natural laws, we've no choice but to embrace

It is a code of absolute right and wrong
And the path on which a man best belongs
Situational ethics are never the right way
Regardless of what moral relativists say

God testifies to this in His Creation
Where the universe holds order without deviation
The test of evil, whatever its complexity
Is that man might grow through facing adversity

Evil can kill, but, it can never destroy good
Think of Socrates if only you would
So long as you hold true in all your actions
And thoughts, a good person knows full satisfaction

Nero might fiddle, but, offers no sonorous play
Always the strains of the good bind fast as we pray
Never returning evil for evil but keeping to good
This is the path of righteousness understood

Death is sometimes greater than life in subjugation
We must never allow tyranny to rule our nation
It is far greater to die in the name of God and nobility
Than to cringe in slavery given oneself to slavery

So to the Stoic, it is and will always be and seem
There is no begging for mercy burst at the garment's seam
A person of true nobility may yet given their testimony
Knowing that God works all for good in His just divinity


(c) August 24, 2020  Michael Doyle
All Rights Reserved