Lust For Knowing Poem by gershon hepner

The lust for knowing what should not be known
is like the lust for loving who should not
be loved. With knowledge no man lives alone,
but lust for love cn help him hit the the spot.

Inspired by lines written the 20th-century writer and diplomat James Elroy Flecker, cited in a review of the exhibition of treasures from Afghanistan and James Cuno’s book Who Owns Antiquity? Museums and the Battle Over Heritage, cited by Steven C. Munson in Commentary,2008 (“Owning the Past”) :

We travel not for trafficking alone
By hotter winds our fiery hearts are fanned,
For lust of knowing what should not be known
We make the Golden Journey to Samarkand.

8/30/08