The World I Live In
by: Mary Oliver
I have refused to live
locked in the orderly house of
reasons and proofs.
The world I live in and believe in
is wider than that. And anyway,
what's wrong with Maybe?
You wouldn't believe what once or
twice I have seen. I'll just
tell you this:
only if there are angels in your head will you
ever, possibly, see one.
The majority of poets I know never live in the orderly house of reasons and proofs. To be a poet, you must live in a house of Maybe, as Oliver says. Wonder is necessary for poets; certainty is not. In fact, I would venture to say that certainty is the antithesis of poetry.
Of course, modern life doesn't leave a lot of room for wonder. STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) education has become a buzz word in schools and universities. Disciplines like mythology or literature or poetry or painting are now viewed by academia as frivolous, only for daydreamers and fools. (Thank you, Bill Gates.) The focus of education now is critical thinking and problem solving. Black-and-white answers. Equations and logic.
Where does wonder fit into this new world order?
The one word answer: nowhere.
Don't misunderstand me. I think STEM subjects are necessary. Important. For example, we need to understand how to stop climate change. (Yes, poets believe in climate change.) That requires science and technology and engineering and math. (If you don't believe in climate change, let me offer you some advice/wisdom: MAGA hats make you look stupid, and Donald Trump and his family are criminals and grifters.)
However, wonder and beauty are just as necessary as the "hard" disciplines. Some of history's greatest scientists/mathematicians were also accomplished artists. Albert Einstein studied and played violin. Isaac Newton wrote poetry. Galileo was a painter. If these men didn't have the wonder of a poet or artist or musician, perhaps we wouldn't have quantum physics. Or an understanding of gravity. Or a heliocentric model of the universe.
My point is that everyone needs wonder in their lives, from nuclear physicists to sanitation engineers. This evening, after dropping our son off for a school dance, my wife and I visited a beautiful local Christmas light display. We wandered through each glowing tableau filled with child-like wonder. It was a perfect melding, for me, of science and technology and art, and I was surrounded by dumbstruck kids, smiling adults, and one or two dogs. All there for the wonder.
Saint Marty does have angels in his head, and tonight he saw some.
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