UP-GRADING EDUCATION

for Abraham Maslow

My teaching needs to be transformative,
Concerned foremost with how we ought to live
And what contributes to that lofty goal,
Addressing these: the mind, the heart, the soul.

The mind must learn to think creatively,
As well as critically, and come to see
Not only heaps of facts but theories,
Discerning fruitful forests from mere trees.

The heart must learn the reason for our lives,
The only way our hapless species thrives,
And that’s, as Tolstoy said, to “grow in love”
By seeking blissful guidance from above:

Which is where souls essentially aspire,
Transcending lower needs and aiming higher.