LEARNING TO FLOURISH

for Daniel R. DeNicola

      Are we humans half empty or half full?
      A race of oxymorons, we’re wise fools
      Or doltish sages, subject to the pull
      Of appetite and passion, flouting rules
      Of reason and decorum on a whim,
      The urgings of perverse or selfish drives
      That make the light of righteousness go dim,
      Without which nothing wondrous ever thrives.
      For human beings to flourish as we ought
      We need to cultivate the wisdom in
      Our hearts that may be either taught or caught,
      Since wisdom is the way beyond our sin.
           For only when we fully realize
           Our sapience will Homo saps grow wise.

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