Odes to Aurelius: Make Yourself Good

Last month, I submitted my poem "Make Yourself Good" to the Odes to Marcus Aurelius international competition held by Modern Stoicism and The Aurelius Foundation to celebrate the Stoic emperor's 1900th birthday. I was honored to win second place and would like to share what I wrote with you! 

The competition organizers also shared a recording of me reading the poem. Click on the YouTube video above to hear it.

My goal with this poem: To get at the heart of Marcus' Meditations, and what I hope to remember from his writings each and every day. 


Make Yourself Good
By Meredith Alexander Kunz
 
“Do not act as if you had ten thousand years to live.” 
- Marcus Aurelius, Meditations, 4:17  

Remember that this moment
Is all you have: 
Each flying second
Your personal eternity
To make with it 
What you can
On this earth. 
Each flash of consciousness 
Your own, your true possession,
The source of your power 
To choose, and choose well,
In this temporary existence.
 
Focus on this alone and stay true.
That’s what you need to remember
To concentrate on what must be done.
 
God or atoms? No difference. 
Each of us must make our own way.
And that inner daimon--
That guardian-spirit 
Inside you, inside us all,
Knows the path to virtue 
And the good. 
When we listen, 
We find happiness.
 
Some days, some years even,
We will be down and out, 
Dispossessed, beaten up
By the whims of the world,
Liable to gnash our teeth, 
Fill our brains with worry, 
Fear, desire, resentment.
 
But still: We hold the keys to mastery 
Of all that really matters.
It’s a lesson for the ages: 
“While you have life in you, 
While you can,
Make yourself good.”
 
Check yourself. 
Channel Marcus.
And if you’re veering off course into
Love of status, money, looks, things--
If you’re consumed 
By trepidation
Of what lies ahead, 
And dread of what
Surrounds you,
Stop--
And recall the philosopher-king 
to rule them all. 
He’ll set you right. 
And you’ll start the next day
Ready for the fight.