Tuesday, March 27, 2018

Answering Emerson's Questions

poetry comes nearer to vital truth than history.
--Plato

What is day?
twenty-four hours that pass by
in minutes if not present,
with no sense of purpose nor direction
What is a year?
reckoning time in the ordinary;
wake-up call for missed resolutions;
revolving around your centre
What is summer?
aestas -- long and lazy
marked by intermittent naps,
family field trips and rosé in sweating glasses (in aqua sanitas)
What is woman?
fierce, soft, warm, and not to be trifled with;
daughter smelling sweet and sweat and dirt and sun;
wife companion never underestimated
family stabilizer.
What is child?
innocent          can be taught to hate;
innumerable questions; interruptions and
perfect timing to scream while I'm on the phone.
What is sleep?
much needed          never enough;
the cure-all for any tantrum;
difficult to come by when angry, anxious, or drunk. 
What is truth?
In vino veritas
painful and biting          it comes from my children
witty and wise          it comes from my children
repeatedly found and continually searching for
virtue of wisdom

1 comment:

aneibauer said...

I found these questions while reading Emerson's essay, Nature. They jumped out at me and made me wonder if any questions that we ask are ever unanswerable. So, I tried to answer these.