Caricature they remain for they haven’t purity.

Streaked thoroughly with grime and mud

A downcast shadow shall remain their possession.

No one respects those that do not follow in line

Those who dare to blotch the perfect numbers

And create innovate, discover, and dream,

Are the ones who aren’t clean

 

Too much interest in knowledge has diminished them

Society holds them in its hand

Ready to crush their fragile minds with a cruel grasp

 

“You can learn,” he says to them

“But only what I let you learn.

Do not think this is at your discretion.

If I let you learn my secrets, discover my lies,

You will unveil me.

No, I shall strip you of your lust.

You shan’t have a desire for words and numbers

For history and science, for philosophy and sociology

Beyond the means we teach.”

 

They look up at his looming face

Helpless in his palm, they agree to his commands

No longer will they try to learn what they want

But the want eats at them.

They yearn to relinquish their thirst

But the water has evaporated from their cups.

 

What is the Divine Comedy?

How did Pythagoras discover his theorem?

What is the first trace of human civilization?

What is quantum theory?

How do nerve endings work?

How does electricity get turned into magnetism?

What are the four cycles in an engine?

Why did Eric Blair change his name to George Orwell?

 

So many question. No answers.

“It’s not common core.”

“You aren’t supposed to learn about that till college.”

“I don’t see this in the curriculum.”

“I don’t know.”

“Where did you get these ideas from?”

“It’s not important.”

“You can learn about that if you take this class in 2 years.”

 

Drowning in white noise, the look to him

Begging, they plead for allowance

They wish to freely learn

 

He looks at them, a sad smile on his face

He too once felt this way, and he saw how it can harm

Knowledge wreaks havoc he told them

He doesn’t want such problems in his world

 

But they don’t understand what he means

How can knowing facts change society?

 

“Ignorance is strength my child.

You don’t want to know.

The more you know, the more you don’t understand.

You question life, the universe, humanity, politics,

And it becomes muddled in your brain.

You reach out to others but instead of enlightening them,

You scare them with your ideas.

You eventually can know too much.”

 

No, they think

They just want to understand the world around them.

 

He’s desperate for them to understand,

Yet for them to understand,

They would have to go through it themselves,

And a hypocrite he would be.

 

He has no choice.

To preserve equilibrium he pulls in a deep breathe,

Leans down and whispers the questions to all their answers.

They thank him wildly, yet the more they ask,

The more they want to know.

“It’s contagious, you see?

Are you satisfied with understanding mole to gram conversions?

No. Now you want to know how they are used in chemical equations.

Are you satisfied knowing the lore of the Knights of Templar?

No. Now you want to know of the Illuminati.”

 

Silence.

They know enough to see the truth.

 

He apologizes for what he’s done, and this they don’t understand.

 

A tear rolls down his face for he knows how it feels to learn.

Fulfillment and awe

Captivating ideas

Mind-boggling prophecies.

 

He closes his eyes tightly and closes his hand.

The only choice he had was made.

They paid for the facts.