Eudaimonia
by Michael Doyle

As a matter of virtue and philosophical inquiry
Aristotle unveiled many a treasured mystery
Setting eudaimonia as the telos of human life
Translated toward peace and against strife

Investigations into the dream of pure reason
Turning the colors of each passing season
The functionality of thought in this lyceum
Belongs on the streets, not in the museum

There in the walking lectures that are felt
Is the veracity of all that can be dealt
Amidst the four causes behind human flourishing
Is found the eudaimonia that is quite nourishing

Happiness found in the right conditions met
Is the best path forward and with the least regret
Human beings can be quite unsettling and complicated
But a life well lived is lived by being dedicated

Most of life is temporary and without deep meaning
This is the gist being the human busily being
Where each day is passed without more than a greeting
In those things that pass and are quietly fleeting

Measured in its moments and in the passing of years
Happiness is found in a life well lived despite tears
It is not the momentary joy and not strictly pleasure
But in living well will be the life that is its treasure

It's the means to the ends and the end in itself
Measured in reasons that you won't find strictly on a shelf
But anchored in the ethical aims of the conscience
Somewhere there between spirituality and truest science

Self-contained, not to be found in any honor shown
But in an active life that is the act of life grown
There are the secrets of a life lived to live well
Where the rough and ready of politics depends on detail

This student stands ready to find all he might learn
And in all of this, there might be wisdom to discern
It is there that there is truth that passes for knowledge
Somewhere out beyond the safety of the window's ledge

Is the truest grace in the processes of deep life
Somewhere, somehow that brings peace from all this strife
All of the dreams dreamt and that we might conceive
It all comes down to the will of what it takes to believe

(c) October 8, 2022  Michael Doyle
All Rights Reserved