“Wonder” Excerpt (Source: Geo Davis)

Do you ever stop to wonder
why the green ink
spilling from your fountain pen
in paisleys and undulating hills
doesn’t seep through the paper
like water following
hidden seams in the earth,
seeping into the streams and rivers
then emptying into the ocean?

Some questions breed questions, not answers. Or at least that’s been my experience.

It likely explains my perennially perplexed feeling in mathematics classes as a youngster. I was forever hung up on why algebra equations, etc. were working, were useful, were not more beautiful. You can imagine the wake of aggravated math teachers!

At midlife I’m no less confident that questions trump answers. And curiosity outweighs conviction. Usually.

The pondering lines above are pulled from a flock of feckless reflections in a poem called “Wonder.” They’re unlikely to pay your rent or solve impending problems, but they just might inspire a few questions of your own.

“Wonder” was included in Midlife Crisis Postponed. You can hear the full poem here.