Wisdom
John
Valentine
How
far away is the heart.
Strange how a well speaks
loudest
when no one dips into its secrets.
You've known men like that
whose waters run deep,
wind whispering rumors
in the dark.
What wisdom there is
in lilacs,
the way they put a finger
to their lips.
Exquisite stillness.
The moon quiet as an omen,
shimmering its secret,
spilling glaze
on the oak, the willow,
even the trillium that shivers
all night in the weeds,
holding its tongue,
deeper than rain.
***
John
Valentine is a professor of philosophy at the Savannah College
of Art and Design. His poetry has been published in The Sewanee
Review, The Southern Poetry Review, The Midwest
Quarterly, Snake Nation Review, The Adirondack Review,
and others.
©
John Valentine