The Learning Spark

The Learning Spark

I stand surrounded by shadows.

Shrouded in mystery and in magic.

The world was full of wonder, full of magic

Then I heard a question.

"What is darkness?"

I turned to see a boy standing before me,

Eyes full of light, 

Sparks of joy and naivety.

I answered and he was sated.

Then he asked again,

"What is light?"

I answered and he was sated.

The boy continued to ask questions,

Every time I would answer,

And always be sated...

Always temporarily...

Then I decided to ask him a question,

The boy with eyes of light and joy.

"Why do you ask questions?"

The boy smiled.

"Why would I live in a world shrouded?"

"Wouldn't you want to live in a world illuminated?"

I was sated by his answer. 

But then I realized. My world was shrouded.

I asked the boy another question,

He answered and I was sated.

"Why do you ask me so many questions?"

"Why ask when I know so little?"

The boy smiled.

"No one knows everything."

"But everyone knows something different."

"So I ask. I ask. I ask."

For a second I paused.

Then I was sated.

The boy then turned to another direction.

He asked the darkness a question.

I listened and wondered who he spoke to.

I asked and he answered.

Then I saw who he spoke too,

A man with a furrowed brow and deep creases on his face,

-But I disliked this man-

-The questions he answered instead of me-

-I forgot the man-

-And the shroud increased-

-Then I felt it-

-A burrow in my chest-

-Shame-

I asked the boy about my shame,

And he smiled.

"It's okay to live in a shrouded world."

"A world of mystery and magic."

"Some worlds are better in the light"

"Some worlds are better in the shroud."

I paused as I realized something.

The boy...

The boy...

He was no boy, he was a man.

A child's naivety is not asking questions.

A child's naivety is accepting without thought.

A wise man asks questions with naivety...

But wonders about the answer....

To ask and to question the answer

This is wisdom.

-The boy- 

!No!

-The man-

I may not have his light or his joy.

I envy it

The Learning Spark