This is Episode 125 of Poems for the Speed of Life.

Today's piece is by Anaximander.

One of the things I’ve realised from the first 100 or more episodes of this podcast is that poetry is not always a written poem.

Poetry is a feeling, an experience, a dazzling transcendent moment, a transformation of sorts, and the written poem is an attempt to capture this. Seamus Heaney recounted this essence in "Postscript", which you can hear in Episode 14.

For this reason, this podcast has sometimes included song lyrics, or lines of prose that can be plucked out as a poem in and of themselves.

Today’s "poem" is the only fragment of the writing of the ancient Greek philosopher Anaximander, who lived in around 600 BC. We only know of Anaximander’s thoughts and teaching through the writing of others in ancient Greece, including Aristotle. For his explanations and theories of the universe, he is called "The Father of Cosmology".

I first came across these words in the book The Order of Time, by the physicist Carlo Rovelli, and it was immediately clear to me that even though it’s a short fragment, just 21 words long, it was a poem.

It can be read and read and read.

What is necessity? What is justice, and how is it rendered? What is transformation? What is the order of time? What, indeed, is time?

It’s impossible really to get to the root of it. I realised that getting to the root of it is not the point.

It’s a mystery. A universal mystery, and like all the best mysteries, it shows us some universal truth that our frail human minds find virtually impossible to grasp, but which make some sense deep to our bodies, to our hearts, to our souls.

Passge from The Order of Time by Carlo Rovelli:

I have an enduring passion for Anaximander, the Greek philosopher who lived twenty-six centuries ago and understood that the Earth floats in space, supported by nothing. We know of Anaximander’s thought from other writers. Only one small original fragment of his writings has survived—just one:

Things are transformed,

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For a detailed outline of the mission and purpose behind this podcast, please check out Episode 100, "Why Poems for the Speed of Life?", in your podcast player or ⁠⁠⁠click here to listen on Spotify⁠⁠⁠.

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Music Credit:

Once Upon a Time by Alex-Productions | ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://onsound.eu/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠  | Music promoted by https://www.free-stock-music.com