A Poem for Philo

Colossus

A poem for Philo

Astride the worlds of Greek and Jew you stand,

one foot in either camp,

Plato to one side, Moses to the other.

Where the river meets the sea you wait,

beside the pantheon of gods with names and faces, sins and graces,

Creator transcendent and Logos shadow, envoy and advocate,

binder of being and nothingness.

Spanning the abyss, you, the bridge for the Christ of Paul,

you leave the Nazarene in Holy Zion;

and, plating the gates with silver and gold,

you disappear from view.

(Info. from Britannica: Philo of Alexandria, born 15-10 BCE, died 45-50 CE, was a Greek-speaking Jewish philosopher, regarded as the most important representative of Hellenistic Judaism, whose writings offer a clear view of the development of Judaism in the diaspora. He attempted to synthesise revealed faith and philosophic reason (good luck with that!) and is regarded by some Christians as a forerunner of subsequent Christian/Pauline theology.)