The Other Side

Old enough to know, young enough to care.
Too old to be cool, too young for wisdom.
It crouches, smirking in the shade of the blind spot,
Leaping into view after the fall; to ridicule.

Even wisdom likes to mock and wag its finger.
But what purpose would wisdom have without folly?
Without folly, no one would grow to be wise.
But no one would have need of wisdom.

After change is the other side.
We settle and wait for revelation.
Bar that, something beautiful to die for;
To inspire what remains of life.

Change is not the handmaiden of time,
But one of time’s children.
It is the time between one state and another,
Passing slowly enough for innocence to fade and acuity to take over.

Seeing feels like dying.
But to feel death’s grasp jolts the spirit, and life returns.

William Sommers is an American writer.