Student

I am a student

A seeker in the lifelong search for knowledge

I have been planted here like a newborn bud

bidden to blossom when I have found enough facts

to bring myself to proper understanding

I have been left to grow

from the same soil as the centuries-old oak

that houses the history of this city

alongside wide-reaching catalogues of treatise dialogues

and lessons about lands far away

that I will never visit

Alongside tomes of teachings

tethered to the weathered pages of dusty paper

and parchment in these books

A compartmentalized collection

of revised and itemized volumes of study

spellwork and philosophy –

all of it left here for me

But what have I learned?

Through osmosis

words have been burned into my memory

and although this is an effective process

the prognosis for my continued intellectual evolution seems unlikely

More what might be is an expiration

in fact-laden irrelevance –

meaninglessness is the closest diagnosis

But at least I have taken away that

I have learned without much prompting that the fact is

that no matter how much time is spent on research or contemplation

the only elevation of consciousness

comes from experience

I first had this revelation midway through a summer day –

the sun was bright through the window

and the blowing breeze prompted the grass to sway

Through the glass I could see

two ponies at play

I don’t remember

what I heard one of them say

but it was enough to make me pay attention

to something

instead of the dead ponies I was reading about

I think I caught a glimmer then –

a smile and shimmer of laughter

that painted the air

like sunbreeze diamonds

Two girls happier

than all of opportunity and obligation could ever make them –

and I think I knew then

But I was young and assured

in the confidence that only comes with ignorance

so I shut my window

and returned to my books

to review what I had learned

My life has turned a corner since then

I’ve put away a week of study

to spend time with friends

I’ve contemplated koans

on the philosophy of inaction

until the unexpected distraction

of a two-day get-together

became my weekend course of action

I have seen that laugh, and smile

and caught for a moment or a while

the sparkle of daylight respite

from worry and weariness

What I can tell you is this:

there is no encyclopedia so precious

that it is worth to cherish it

over a day with someone you love

There is every reason in the world

to care less for duty and deadlines

if it is in the service of fairness to your friends

There is no end

to the wealth of understanding

gained from living

even if it means giving up

a day’s exploration

into the infinite ocean of things

written in books

They will still be there tomorrow

Knowledge written down is mundane

Unmoving

Unchanging

Static

But the always evolving entropy of life

and the ponies who make it real

prove that there is something special

in an existence with others

Evidence that

as is

and always will be:

Friendship is Magic

Author's Notes:

Poem by darf