Image: ChatGPT but with a little human intervention
beam blunt works moment own shape ancient envy truth scroll shift fluid
To Himself
During a rare moment,
Sitting on his own,
Possibly in a campaign tent,
Likely at a battle front,
The most powerful man
Of his day sits to write.
Not on a royal papyrus scroll,
On a wax tablet with a stylus.
Does he, like Sun Tzu, write works
Of battle strategy and planning?
Of court politics and intrigue?
Of future empire building?
To put the truth bluntly: No.
He works to shape himself,
To build an ethical inner citadel,
Where self-control is the walls,
Compassion and kindness the beams.
A structure to counter envy, sloth, and pride,
To shift focus from without to within.
This ancient scribe, an emperor,
The wearer of the royal purple,
Is writing to himself, directly.
And, unknowingly, indirectly to us.
Time and events are fluid, shifting,
But his wisdom is eternal.
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