Genius by Billy Collins (excerpted)

Was what they called you in High School

if you tripped on a shoe lace in the hall

and all your books went flying.

Or if you walked into an open locker door,

you would be known as Einstein

who imagined riding a street car into infinity

Later, genius became someone 

who could take a sliver of chalk and squire pi 

a hundred places out beyond the decimal point . . .

But earlier this week on a wooded path,

I thought the swans afloat on the reservoir 

were the true geniuses,

The ones who had figured out how to fly,

how to be both beautiful and brutal,

and how to mate for life .   .   .

Excerpted from Billy Collins Poem called  Genius

Words from the Good Decision Project. 

I believe our current national leaders fancy themselves genius.  But they show us only a pedestrian form of transactional cleverness at best, and often a great deal less.   They are mostly prey for this often cruel brutal world’s true users and schemers.  This Project does not support  brutality, and the swans can keep it, but a national leader with a sharp mind linked to fidelity, beauty, love and the faith of flight would be good. And sooner rather than later would be good as well.