Book 5, Letter 20 - Tacitus on Cicero,

 

Dear Cicero,

I keep finding fans of your work from among the writers of my acquaintance. Tacitus was only a hundred or so years after your death, and his description of you, and of your legendary status among orators, reads like a fan letter, as if he too hoped that your ghost might be listening. Soon I will read to you from the letters to Pliny the younger, who was a friend of Tacitus, and who likewise praises your skills as a speaker and writer. It seems that I am far from alone in using you as an example to follow in my journey as a writer and speaker.

Here in the 21st Century, another war has flared up, potentially the ignition point for a global conflict that may define the coming generation. I remind myself that the future is unwritten. The past is not a mirror. I remember each day the words of a wise poet friend...

"I surrender to the whole catastrophe..." Amy Bodossian.

With gratitude and respect.

Morgan.

 

 

Book 5, Letter 19 - Michaelangelo

Dear Cicero,

There's something timeless about love poetry. It invites us to imagine something beyond ourselves, to see the magic possible in a romantic connection, and to transform even the agony of loss and heartbreak, into something beautiful.

I didn't know Michaelangelo wrote poetry until I found this book, and the quality of his words have been a source of continual inspiration ever since.

With gratitude and respect,

Morgan