it’s all such a mystery —
     people (were they real
          flesh and blood people

or did we make up these
     flesh and blood people?)
          all around the same time

in history (give or take a
     few hundred years here
          and there) who would

deliver all the essential
     wisdom with which we
          need to live, touching

the longings of our hearts
     — mysterious wisdom
          from the far east, middle 

east and greece for those
     of us in the middle west
          and points north, south

east and west? did we
     do that, have something
          to do with that — put

flesh and blood on
     timeless, wonderful,
          wisdom, so we could

look at it, read it, think
     about it, feel it deep
          within us — affirming

all that was already
     there in the depths of
          the hungry heart of

humanity? might we
     have had something
          to do with that emer-

gence and, if so, we
     should give ourselves
          a little more credit

for those eternal verities,
     questions and mysteries
          and that truly would

be a mystery or was the flesh 
     and blood there and we added 
          the mystery? or did it all 

come down through history as 
     the heart of mystery clothed in 
          flesh and blood touching ours?