Rough theory

Rough theory                                                                                                   
 
Words are defined (and therefore determined)
only by other words:  I must plunge
 
into the salt blue depths to learn
for myself what the ocean is. 
 
And then, it’s just a shallow fragment of the shore,
nothing on which to stake my soul.
 
Everything I know about existence
I have learned from others
 
(who have learned it from others). 
Every self-image I have
 
has been taken from those around me.
Truth, as I have encountered it,
 
is rough theory, hand-me-down estimations,
splintered concepts, watered-down experience.
 
I know nothing of any validity.  
I’m not large enough to hold the truth. 
 
So I cling desperately to my fragment
of shore and pray to the ocean,
 
daring not to open the sea-gates
and drown in the resulting tumult.
 
O child of God, the task is to unlearn
a lifetime of inherited knowledge.