A Valuable Lesson Poem by Jim Yerman

It's ironic, when I think about it…as the years pass…
the more and more I grow
the more and more I come to realize…
all the things I do not know.

My parents and my teachers helped me learn…
They helped my mind to grow…
but even after all their teachings…
there was so much I did not know.

As a parent, raising children…
watching their minds and bodies grow…
every day was a constant reminder…
of all the things I did not know.

As a teacher for 39 years
trying to help my students grow…
each day in the classroom I came face to face
with all the things I did not know.

And now that I am older…
thinking back on all the years I've seen accrue…
I'm starting to forget some of the things
I know that I once knew!

Which makes me wonder if my life isn't a balancing act…
a kind of ebb and flow…
between all the things I've learned
and all the things I do not know.

Perhaps the best that I can hope for
before my life on Earth adjourns…
is to use what I do know wisely…
while retaining a willingness to learn…

Which brings me back to irony…
as the older and older I grow…
It's ironic the most important lesson I've ever learned in life…
Is that there's so much…I do not know.