i used to wear certainty like armour tight

feeling as if this was an anchor required

before I went out into the wide-wide world

dropped in place solid

 

but i discovered realistically

that an anchor impedes the actual journey

for when it is dropped down tight

–we go nowhere at all

 

and i realised that if I wanted to look back later

with stories to tell

then an open heart

a couple of cleaned out ears

and eyes prepared to see

were necessary

 

and on the journey i beheld various kinds of things

and listened into the experience vast that

many others bring

 

there were times of confusion—and often are still–

but as i opened arms wide to embrace

i learned and grew in ways worth knowing

and my heart’s ability to care did not shrink

–it expanded

and my brain’s ability to reason and wrestle

with truths or lies

what is light or dark

–deepened

 

and as i look back after numerous years traversed

a multitude of places visited

both glorious mountain peaks high

and freezing altitudes low

 

i realise that the certainty of my youth

has tempered with experience

and that a heart that thought itself wise before

had much to learn indeed

and it is in the posture of a listener

that wisdom is discovered

 

—there is much richness found in examining the perspective of others that would be lost if we never venture out to listen  

Photo by Morten Hornum on Unsplash