Tuesday, January 31, 2017
"Two Kinds of Intelligence"––poem by Dorothy
Two Kinds of Intelligence
"There are two kinds of intelligence."
Rumi
One is the sort
we acquire in school,
where we memorize,
dissect, discard
what our feelings tell us
about the real direction
our hearts wish to go.
Thus we develop skills
that command
a high price
in the market.
We marry our computers,
or learn to take the stuff
of this world apart,
ever finding new components
to add to an already existing
array of proficiencies.
We thus are certain
that we know what we know,
and never have to think
about other possibilities,
sovereigns of our chosen
kingdoms.
We often become famous,
win prizes,
acclaimed for our discoveries
that make us ever more
marketable.
The other kind of knowledge.
opens us to the secrets of
plants and paintings.
We marry certain trees
and betroth ourselves
to flowers.
Evening clouds
take us aback
with their shifting
array of colors,
purple and subtle orange.
It envelops us
in a kind of awe at concerts,
where we allow ourselves
to be ravished
by sound, frequencies arriving
in nuanced order
to echo deep within.
This kind of knowing
commands love,
a caring for those
who cross our path,
a way of connecting with
others, even those
we have never seen.
This way is not marketable.
It constantly turns the base metal
of our lives into gold.
Dorothy Walters
January 31, 2017
