Yvonne Fisher read this poem on Saturday, April 27, 2019, as part of the Tompkins County Public Library Readathon fundraising event.
Haphazardly, we learn
By tripping over our own feet
By trial and error, mistake after mistake
By listening to a mentor, a teacher
By listening to people
By listening
By looking around
We learn by finally realizing
By having an awakening, an epiphany
An aha moment
Or else gradually
We learn gradually
Too late
After trying everything else first
By crawling on our hands and knees
Bloody and broken, searching
By questioning everything, everything
By climbing toward the stars
Looking up, looking up
Sometimes we learn by giving in
By surrendering
Or by accident
Or sometimes we don’t even know
That we’re learning
But we do
We still do
We learn
