why’s & what’s

what do they mean when they say

that wisdom comes with age?

i'm thoroughly unconvinced.

there’s no path paved, and

each day

brings a new chance to begin. 

and every day,

aren't we all just meeting ourselves 

for the very first time?

even at ninety, we are only as wise

as our best self

and that version lies

only in the future 

every day

we evolve after renewal and rest

for what is sleep but a metamorphosis?

into someone new, I guess

yesterday's lessons are past

behind, yet they cling like static

clouding the mind

at times, making any change

an impossible quest

why do they say 

that wisdom comes with time?

i find it hard to believe 

every day, we rise 

with the sun and try to see,

the light in our lives, 

but we are only as bright 

as our best days, those the sun

has kissed 

away and our dreams

that only exist 

in the future.

the why’s of now,

we may never truly know

each day is a new question

a beginning, an answer

a chance to grow

into wisdom, which isn’t the goal

it’s a chance to try, maybe fail

go again tomorrow

and what’s more is

sometimes I wonder

if I’ll ever stop searching

for the part of me that feels missing.

as if wisdom were something

I could earn,

like a prize for persistence.

as if wholeness arrived

once the questions

went quiet

and i started to listen.

and so, i’ll continue and i’ll trust

not in search of the answers.

but in pursuit of the questions

that shape us.

for wisdom, it seems, isn’t a place to arrive,

but a dance in and out

between the lines

a rhythm to learn,

one step, one breath, at a time.

and only the truth can be found

somewhere within the why’s and the what’s

in the best of us, 

only in the future