Child of the Wise

as I approached the shore
I came across a drowning girl
I reached out and exclaimed —
“child, take hold my hand
and I will guide you ashore!”

but the girl answered,
“if I cannot save myself,
who will save me once your guiding hand is spent?”

I told her,
“you are wise young one, you are wise.”

I walked away — for certainly she spoke true
not a moment later, the girl succumbed to the sea bed below
and my heart sank with her and got spent there
and I cynically lamented,
“did she not drown a child of the wise?”

© bb - all rights reserved – circa. 1996