When Did They Become So Wise?

I look into my grown children’s eyes

and see the babies I once held in my arms,

gurgled on their bellies to make them laugh.



Was that when they became so wise?

Did they come into their little bodies

with wisdom unleashed?



Or was it when they started school

and learned to speak and read and write,

and learned to challenge the world?



Could wisdom have been there all along

and I’d not seen?

not heard nor suspected?



Were they wise when they received their diplomas?

dressed in a line of shimmering black,

excitement in trembling smiles.



Had they made it thus far only to go out in the world

and learn everything all over again?

Gathering true wisdom?



Was there a worldly character lurking nearby,

with outcast hands of forbidden fruit?

“Eat this, it will make you wise.”



In our solitude moments gathered by grief

I see the wisdom in their ways,

I see the wisdom in their tenderness and love.