A Learning Curve Poem by Daniel Brick
A Learning Curve
'A penny for your thoughts'
We used to say when we were children,
and did not understand thoughts are
private things, sustained by the pure light
of the mind, hardly able to withdtsand
the coarse light of the sun or the stained
light of the moon. 'A penny for your thoughts, '
we said, because we thought everything was
available to us, no barriers caused by wealth,
no limitations from ignorance of the world.
We gradually gained pieces of experience
that pass for wisdom, mostly the wisdom
of caution and hesitation... Now it all
seems so obvious. We guard our thoughts,
treasure them, hide them away. So many
impulses hedge our thoughts: Will they die
from exposure? Will they shock when revealed?
Should they be censored? That is why only
children think they can buy thoughts for pennies.
The rest of us know: thoughts are priceless.
Hey, Daniel! Looking at this one again, and mulling on the sentence that begins, We gradually gained pieces of experience... For me this brings mixed feelings. There's the sadness at the loss of the unguarded experiencing of the world, and then the realiztion that I do take for wisdom- and typically gained from hurts- that not everyone or everything is worthy of our trust. There's enough hurt that comes unbidden without unnecessarily exposing ourselves to hurt. For a year and some I taught middle school religion at a Presbyterian-affiliated school, and I so enjoyed the sixth graders. Most seemed so fresh, and in their eyes I was like a god. But a few stirred concern in me; they were so open I feared for the hurt they were likely to experience. For me one of the most important Proverbs says, Above all things guard your heart- for that's where life starts. Which I relate to Jesus teaching in the Sermon on the Mount which begins, The eye (our perspective) is the lamp of the body (our being) . He goes on to say, if you open your eyes wide in wonder and belief, your body fills with light, but if you live squinty-eyed in greed and distrust, your body will be a dank cellar. For wonder, Glen
Hey, Daniel! I like this one! It feels all of the same material- integrated and whole. It's accessible, and I relate. This takes me back to when I first started writing poetry and realized, with the psychology courses I was taking and reading lots of Freud, that I exposed myself in my poems, and what would people think of me? I anguished over this. These days I appreciate transparency in people, but accept the bounds of privacy about things like what one does in bed with her/his partner. Thank you for putting this poem before us. Glen
Childhood saying has gained value in life. A penny for your thoughts values much more than expression of emotion. Thoughts do not obey any barrier. We gradually gain pieces of experience while we get tender touch of true wisdom and especially the wisdom of God. Generally children think they can buy thoughts for pennies but this does not happen in reality. Thoughts are priceless. Brilliant poem is very well crafted from childhood memory...10
This poem has not been translated into any other language yet.
I would like to translate this poem
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7/18/2025 3:25:32 AM # 1.0.0
A very commendable deductive poem... great.