The Way Around

by Larry Chamberlin   Apr 9, 2019


Had I the time to tell you all that I have learned,
we could spend a good month in genial discourse.
Had I half the time to learn what I know not now,
I would gain a lifetime and still be no wiser.

To me, wisdom does not seem so much a mountain
that you would climb attaining ever greater heights,
as it is a broad rolling meadow with pockets
hidden from view until you stumble into them
and understand only when you’re fully immersed.

9 April 2019 (day 9)

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  • 5 years ago

    by Ben Pickard

    I like this, Larry. The idea the you don't decide to 'conquer' wisdom necessarily, but rather, it has its way with you when you fall down its 'pockets'. I suppose it's typical of the human mindset that we feel we can surmount anything we want, whenever we want. Who knows, perhaps if we fall down enough of those holes and are submerged long enough, we might begin to see with a little more modest clarity!
    Technically, I do love the way this is written, from the almost melancholic reflection in the first stanza to the culmination of your thoughts in the second; a natural progression from one to the next which is particularly satisfying for a reader who has been set a conundrum: you answer it for us.
    The only suggestion I would make is a comma after the end of line one, and perhaps I would write the first two lines of the second stanza slightly differently, for fluidity's sake -

    'Wisdom, to me, seems not so much a mountain
    you would climb, attaining ever greater heights...'

    Anyway, I really did enjoy this, Larry, and have taken an important lesson from it. Nominated.

    Take care

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