One Afternoon in the Agora |
Issue 16
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They want to charge me with corrupting the youth. But I’m a fly, I inform them, with a belly full of eggs, baby flies, maggots, the emperor’s deathless worms. Eventually they see what I’m buzzing about – my legal defense, an appeal to nature, lex naturalis. I don’t select my hosts. Their hospitality is a matter of chance, or, perhaps, of certain statistical methods known only to a small cadre of actuaries. An insurance scheme most likely, but definitely above my pay grade. Now, if you will excuse me, there’s a young fellow out there somewhere on the front whom I must visit – to lay my burden down.
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Robert Witmer has resided in Japan for the past 46 years. His poems have appeared in many print and online journals. He has also published two collections of poetry, Finding a Way (2016) and Serendipity (2023). A third book, Sunrise in a Rabbit Hole, will be published in 2025.
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