Learning is such a simple word
with boundless connotations.
You can keep it unassuming, since you’ve preferred
to be shape-shifted by situations.
It’s not just a process, channeled in schools.
Example: I think of Abraham Lincoln.
It’s also an exercise for degenerates and fools
in those moments of “What were you thinkin'”?
To me, learning is a self-reflecting development
that demands pursuit, objectivity, and attention.
You can retain information to appear competent,
but to be molded requires intention.
To break it down in other terms,
you must light your figurative self on fire,
while watching all that was once you
be reborn from a purifying pyre.
As you watch all you are and have worked for,
slowly and painfully burn,
you can begin to understand my darling,
the bulk of the word is earn.
