I stared and stared at a very blank wall,

Till strange writings formed that I could not read;

I tried and tried to understand it all,

But I failed and failed, yet I learned to teach;

I taught what I thought I had understood

To those who understood what I could see;

Thus, with Truth imagined, firmly we stood,

Singing songs of freedom and liberty;

Well we sang in united brotherhood

And thought the rest were completely off-key;

Till one day it fell, that mighty big wall,

Ever burdened with thought and literacy;

And we returned -- all the short and the tall,

Divorced from thought, but living happily!

 

From The Unsung Log by Ronnie Patel (copyright Ronnie Patel 2007)