Herbert Nehrlich - DIOGENES

Inside a weatherbeaten drum,
there sat a man, alert but glum.
It was, of course, Diogenes,
he'd fled the world and its distress.
And from the time that he had fled
the people came, alive and dead
to ask him how to truly live.

He had the answers and would give
the best to all who came to see
the man inside the drum, so free.
And many thousands took advice
not knowing how the truth applies
to real life, so they stayed dumb.
All wisdom stayed inside the drum.

Herbert Nehrlich

http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/diogenes/