The sun was scattered
Through the colored glass
The floor was stained
As light enveloped in a bath
And shadows on the wall
From piles of books were cast
With rows that formed an aisle
In through which I passed
These the quarters of a recluse
Whom I'd come to ask
About the origin of wisdom
He was said to have
To get the story of
"the man who knows more than any"
Or so I read
He welcomed me to sit
With affection and then he said
"since I was seven
I've traveled the globe through words
Set on a mission to devour all I could learn
I've studied the writings
Of the greatest minds you've heard
Discovered the tenets
That the finest thinkers observed
The more I gained
The more that I sought to earn
The more I attained
The hotter the fire burned
With every book I finished
Another was there to serve
For every text I read there
Were pages still left to turn
I've learned from all the migrants
And drifters to whom I'd listen
Philosophers and soldiers
Whose knowledge I would solicit
I know histories of nations
I'll never have chance to visit
Complexities of science
And language with great precision
But in the end I've seen nothing
Of what's been given
This life that I've employed
While I love it, it has its limits
The failing I regret
Though it's painful, I must admit it
For everything I know of this world
I never lived it"

A silence hung for a moment's thought
As echoes from the room decayed
And tapered off
And there we sat reflecting
Was it all for naught?
Until I spoke in earnest
With this brief remark
I said that
"while it's evident your knowledge
Is rivaled by much shrewdness
I've never met a man
With such wisdom who's so foolish"
Then he grinned and he chuckled
And asked if I
Would speak on what I'd seen
Through my travels, so I replied
"I've seen the treasure
That waits for a man to find
I've seen the consequence
When the sun and the moon combine
I've seen the peaks of mountains
That reach out and touch the sky
The struggle to survive
And the desert where dreams have died
I've seen the best
And the worst that we try to hide
The salt of the earth
And the evil of humankind
I've seen the wrecked and ravaged
And scavengers rummage through debris
And those that searched in hope
Finding meaning where none once used to be
And some that stormed the beaches
Some that pledged allegiance
Some that scorched the earth for motives
That they don't agree with
Seen some get lost among
The current of their grievance
While the tide of death
And birth left some speechless
I've seen love bring some to their knees
And some lift hearts
When they smile for no reason
I've seen fairytale endings to believe in
And now I see a man who'd see
The same if he'd but seize it