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Poetry
Gyara Is All There Is
by John Gray
This poem speaks to major aspects of Stoic philosophy through the Stoic Musonius Rufus’s exile to the infamous island of Gyara by Nero in 65CE.
When you enter Gyara, one door locks;
But the other door is always open.
This bleak, Greek island: no more than rocks.
Still. Stark. Stripped of all things that are Roman.
You can leave through the open door: Reason.
Or if Nero calls… But he never will.
That busy, vengeful god obsessed by treason,
Marooned you, then forgot you. As gods do.
Still. We all share the same stars, moon and sun.
Persist. Only your mind provides rescue.
Resist. The sere, salt-galed, silent stupor,
which dulled exiles wear for their civic sin.
Persist. Wind and sun will sustain their sting
Indifferent: Ceaseless in their duty.
As you must be; the moral part of nature’s beauty.
When all your acts have virtue in their essence,
You will confront this awful sentence:
“Exist?” All distils to this one question.
Still. Recall those words in Enchiridion,
“The door is always open at Gyara.”
© John Gray 2026
John Gray is a retired Professor and an active member of an Australian university Human Research Ethics Committee. He teaches philosophy with U3A and focuses upon virtue ethics and institutionalisation within research governance.