both adding and subtracting

to live rightly

“You know we all hate ourselves. . .”

declared a young teenager in my class

in her essay on the meaning of life,

another student announced:

“What do I know?  I’m only 13.”

none of us easily know it all,

or even a large percentage of “it all,”

age and experience can add to understanding, 

but they can also subtract,

as we forget the wonder of the new, the small,

as we forget how to see a fairy,

or how to build a world with LEGOS,

age and experience can help us with science, 

with common sense,

but they can also dull the sharp edge of our emotions,

so we can forget how to value what’s important,

what good is power 

if we don’t know how 

to use it rightly?

by Henry H. Walker

May 22, ‘19