Your complimentary articles

You’ve read one of your four complimentary articles for this month.

You can read four articles free per month. To have complete access to the thousands of philosophy articles on this site, please

The Unclassifiables

At a round table they sat, called a truce
to discuss the indestructible world
and meditate upon eternal things.

Like triplets, separated at birth
each possessed a portion of their truth
yet only made sense in unison.

Tired of jockeying for position
addressing mind, body or spirit, alone
they came, like jealous gods, to save us.

Unable to shirk their messianic callings
together they preached liberation,
through odes to joy and manuals of love.

With myth and parable, the defiant muse
reminded us of the art of being present
and then how to vanish without a trace.

More variations on the old themes: of exile,
homecoming, how to cut to the essence
of our humanity and unquenchable thirst.

In the corner of a small bookshop, they convened:
‘Philosophy, Spirituality, and Poetry’,
temporarily reconciled to share their wisdoms.

Yahia Lababidi’s books include Palestine Wail (2024), Quarantine Notes (2023) & Learning to Pray (2021).