Two Shall Become One Poetry Contest

(using the Francis Bacon quote)


The Questioning


A sudden bold utterance of courage
besieged the reticent one.
Breaking a long-held silence,
he spoke in the council of
the wise and learned ones.

The graybeard, wrinkled with age,
mumbled to his seasoned peers,
sipped from the silver chalice,
and contemplated this strange
and unexpected question.

The forward intrusion, a new
and inconceivable way of thinking,
as one does many times,
challenged the wisdom of those
who sat in chosen seats.

How, the assembly wondered, could the
query of one so common,
a man of small stature, silence and
surprise a man long considered
a prestigious sage?

The question, placed innocently
and straightforward, perplexed the
precepts of the elderly savant
and lay him open, speechless,
before those who waited.