Ways to be clever

there are miriad ways to be clever

you can invent a recipe and bake a brand new kind of cake
or give a contraversial lecture titled “Art for Goodness Sake”
or write a thesis on the reasons why we like the colour blue
or find the secret reasons for the things that madmen do

you can argue with your neighbour and pursuade him black is white
or design a new contraption which gives blind folks perfect sight
or discover a new method to immortalise the heart
or teach aspiring teachers their knowledge to impart.

or, like me
you can write poetry
but I don’t feel very clever right now

© Jane Paterson Basil