to understand a thing

to understand a thing
you must tend toward it
cup it in both hands
and smudge ink across the idea of it

your neophyte observations will be
textured rough and gritty
with gaps in comprehension throughout
and vigorous attempts to assign meaning

you may not be the first to come upon it
but it will be new to you
a tousled bundle of uncertainties
perhaps a creature with a will of its own

no matter, you must not roughshod it
nor bend it to your necessities
for it is not your possession
it belongs only to itself

so when you cast for it
instead, fill your net with the idea of it
no need to be greedy
you have already been enriched

to understand a thing
you must know how to know
how to reverence the wonder of “first time”
and then release it again to be discovered

Janet Guastavino
Janet Guastavino
Janet Guastavino is a native Californian and a fifth-generation San Franciscan. She attended UC Berkeley, where she researched and earned a degree in Women’s and Ethnic Studies. She has been writing poetry for the past fifteen years and has been published digitally and in print. She curates a web site called "The Crone’s Words" that features poetry and flash fiction about mental health and emotional well-being written by women over the age of fifty-five.

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