Following Pythagoras of old,
A friend of wisdom it means and
Nothing more.
For years, I tried to understand
Philosophy’s principles and
For decades, her ethics strived to apply
Plato, Socrates, Aristotle, Heraclitus
My subjects were, thus
Faithfully myself
Devoted to their teaching
With no success, I confess
From my part
But not for the lack of trying.And now,As I descend life’s end clearer by the day
I come to realize to my horror
That although I remained a loyal friend
To wisdom to this day
Wisdom herself has never thought of me
The same way.
- Demetrios Trifiatis, (2013)
[Born (1944) in a small village 300 kms off Athens in Greece Demetrios Trifiatis, lost both his parents early (father at 10 and mother at 14.)in his life. Moved to Athens and had to work to survive and to have early education there. After a stint of military service in Greece, he migrated to Canada. His graduate and Post Graduate studies in Philosophy were from two popular universities in the Country. Trifiatis gained Canadian citizenship in 1976 and taught Philosophy and English and simultaneously authored a number of published short stories while in Canada.
Trifiatis was recognizably visible and making lasting contributions in a variety of fields- athletics (running marathons), education, philosophy, inter-disciplinary research, politics (candidate for Greek and European Parliament), humanitarian work, international peace-building (notably the Malta Summit 1989).All through, he has been working to alleviate the suffering of his fellow humans in any way he could.
He is truly an international citizen (lived in Canada-18 years, England, -2 yrs, Denmark, and China -1 yr each, US, Russia, the Balkans, New Zealand etc -some months) Trifiatis is a multi-linguist too -speaks Greek, English, French and has studied German, Danish and Italian. Back to Greece, retired, he pens his poems and nurses his garden.
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