‘SocratEX at the Gym’

YNP is an aspiring photographer not afraid to showcase his creativity. Primarily focusing on wildlife he also throws light towards street, landscape, reportage, travel and other forms.

SocratEX at the Gym

Today I heard two guys at the gym

debating sex ed — sharp and grim

One said it’s good, one said it’s bad

though neither seemed too practiced, lad.

First one said, "Yeah bro,

kids should learn what they need to know."

Second said, "Nah man, not in our nation,

keep out that kind of temptation."

I watched them argue, clumsy and dense,

"Yeah bro" — "No man" — with zero sense.

They tossed weird axioms back and forth,

'Bout nature, people, value and worth.

It felt like watching tribes debate

with Greeks who calculate their fate —

one side by instinct, the other by form,

yet neither could really perform.

They could’ve gone all summer long,

but the gym closed at nine — their wills not strong.

Frustrated that truth wouldn’t obey,

they grabbed their towels and walked away.

They marched toward machines, their mission blurry,

behind them — the stench of mental flurry...

Left alone, I asked myself:

Why didn’t I speak, say something else?

The answer, in theory, I clearly had —

but in practice… I wasn’t much better, lad.

IUSTIN BUTNARIUC (b. 1999, Botoșani) is a student at the Faculty of General Medicine in Iași. Among other things, he is passionate about literature and writes essays, reviews, prose, but especially poetry in Romanian. He has been awarded at various national literary competitions and has published texts in magazines such as Poesis International, Timpul, on the online platforms Omiedesemne, Poetic Stand, Literomania, Hyperion, Liternet, Junimea XXI. He had public readings at the Blecher Institute (March, 2022) and on the occasion of the Librarium Marathon for International Poetry Day (March, 2023). He has not yet debuted in volume, but he plans to do so as soon as possible.