Saturday, April 16, 2016

Charles Aashfahan writes



Ode to Aifos........



Wandering along the chaos of thoughts,
Encountering the harsh reality of bouts;
In bounty bestowed, so sporadically -
Kneeling the soul to accept defeat,
Shivering the mind albeit deceit;
Here he stands, so egoistically -



Debilitating myself with devilish devotion,
Humiliating myself with humorous notion;
Edges of past, so annoying -
Fragmenting the dignity laying infection,
Breaking the glory to correct correction;
Grudges of past, so horrifying -



Making me to lean downhill;
To accept the failure : no uphill.
Dogmas of reminiscences bark louder -
Stringing me with ropes of remorse;
Caging me with cascade of corpse.
Caprice of portent hits harder -



But, all in all, emerging victorious is my goal;
Connecting the dots, awakening the soul:
Priceless yet free, my time has started -
Thrashing the sins, winning the defeat;
Bashing the omens, fighting the deceit:
Single yet strong, my first-step has started -



I won't accept the defeat, nor will I leave my whim;
For, I shall fight till end, or shall I leave my vim?
With all the vigour imbibed once again -
Mustering my muses, changing my chattel;
I shall and will conquer the battle!
For, after the haze torrential is the rain -



My love, my affection, all that is rejected;
No if, no but: the bitter truth is respected.
Divine and erotic: Eternal yet final -
Through Your recollections, I can live till the end;
Emerging victorious, revamping the wind.
I shall and will conquer the battle.

2 comments:

  1. According to Charles: "The title is a tribute to my old girl-friend, Sofia! A quirky rhythmic soliloquy in form of an ode. So its title is 'Ode to Aifos' ........... that's her name when spelled backward to disguise the insatiable appetite of fondness which she had rejected!"

    Sophia (Greek for "wisdom") ("Sapientia" in Latin) has been used to describe an aspect of God, or the theological concept regarding the wisdom of God, and has been a central idea in Hellenistic philosophy and religion, Platonism, Gnosticism, Orthodox and Esoteric Christianity, and Christian mysticism. Sophia is honored as a goddess of wisdom by Gnostics and some Neopagan, New Age, and Goddess spirituality groups, whereas in Orthodox and Catholic Christianity, Hagia Sophia (Holy Wisdom) is not an angel or goddess but rather an expression of understanding for the second person ("God the Son") of the Holy Trinity.In "Protagoras," Plato listed "Sophia" is one of the four cardinal virtues. Like his teacher, Socrates, he understood "philosophy" literally, as philo-sophia (a friend of Wisdom); in "The Republic" he referred to the ideal rulers as philosopher kings (who are friends of Wisdom). Wisdom ("hokmot") was a central topic in the "sapiential" books (Proverbs, Psalms, Song of Songs, Ecclesiastes, the Book of Wisdom, Wisdom of Sirach, and to some extent Baruch). [The Septuagint, the early Greek translation of the Bible, used "sophia" instead of the Hebrew "hokmot."] "Proverbs" 8:22-31 vividly personified the divine attribute or function of wisdom, which existed before the world was made, revealed God, and acted as God's agent in creation. "The Book of Job" made it clear that wisdom, being the exclusive property of God, is inaccessible to humans. God "found the whole way to knowledge... Afterward she appeared upon earth and lived among human beings" (Baruch 3:36-37). The "Book of Wisdom (7:25-26) claimed, "She is a breath of the power of God, and the radiance of the glory of the Almighty... She is a reflection of eternal light, a spotless mirror of the working of God, and an image of his goodness." The same book (8:2) had Solomon insist, "I loved her and sought her from my youth; I desired to take her for my bride, and became enamored of her beauty."

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  2. Philo, a Hellenized Jew in Alexandria who was influenced by the Stoics, attempted to harmonize Platonic philosophy and Jewish scripture. He used the Greek term "logos (word) for the role and function of Wisdom, a concept later adapted in the "Gospel of John," which identified Jesus as the eternal Word (Logos) of God the Father; Jesus (like wisdom) existed before all things and dwelt with God; Jesus (like wisdom) was God's agent in the creation of the world: "all things were made through him, and without him nothing was made that was made." Strands from the Jewish ideas about wisdom were taken up (and changed) in other New Testament interpretations of Christ. Luke (2:40) claimed that Jesus grew up "filled with wisdom," and Mark (6:2) reported that the Jews were astonished "at the wisdom given to him." In his first epistle to the Corinthians, Paul called Jesus "the wisdom of God" whom God "made our wisdom" and insisted "The wisdom of God" is "secret and hidden." In the mystical theology of the Eastern Orthodox Church, Holy Wisdom is understood as the Divine Logos who became incarnate as Jesus Christ. In Eastern Orthodoxy humility is the highest wisdom and is to be sought more than any other virtue. Not only does humility cultivate the Holy Wisdom, but it (in contrast to knowledge) is the defining quality that grants people salvation and entrance into Heaven. The concept of Sophia has been championed as a key part of the Godhead by some unorthodox Eastern Orthodox thinkers such as Sergei Bulgakov, who claimed that Sophia is co-existent with the Trinity, operating as the feminine aspect of God in concert with the three masculine principles of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. In less theological/philosophical terms, the symbology of wisdom continues to be expressed artistically. For example, in Sophia, Bulgaria, in 2001, after Communism was overthrown, V. I. Lenin’s monument at the intersection of Maria Louisa and Todor Alexandrov Blvds., in the city's commercial center, was replaced by an 8-meter copper-and-bronze statue of Sophia by Georgi Chapkanov. It sat on a 16-meter pedestal and displays the symbols of fame (wreath), wisdom (owl), and power (crown); the crown is also a reference to Tjuhe, the goddess of fate, inspired by the city's old emblem.

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