A Talk With My Father

I was ten and I had a talk with my father.
I asked him, "Do you have to be
Educated to be wise?
Without blinking an eye, he said,
"No! Because wisdom is a gift from God,
And although you have to "earn it,"
You don't necessarily go to school to get it."

I knew what "wise" meant. And I knew it
From the kids I'd play with at school.
The word "wisdom," I did not understand.
My father "straightened me up" by
Writing (in "Bicol") on the inside of a
"Bataan Matamis" cigarette pack turned
Inside out. Here's the translation:
"Wisdom is the uncommon sense of things
Around and about life. And it is "earned,"
Not "learned" through deeds divine and great."

My father, with Father in Heaven now
For many years was a good child
Of God and father to me, and I miss him so.
I hope I am like my father--to my children.