I gave the flame a name. It didn't make it warmer. I drew a line around it. It burned straight through. I drew a circle round the light And called its edges true. I built a shelf for every answer, Gave each silence somewhere new. I learned the numbers of the rain, The laws that make the rivers bend. I knew the distance to the sun, But not how to hold a dying friend. I found a pattern in the darkness, A reason hidden in the stars. I thought that understanding Could explain these wounds of ours. Every line became a border. Every border made a room. If the mind can hold creation, Why can't it hold the ones we lose? BINAH! GIVE THE FIRE A SHAPE! GIVE THE NAMELESS THING A NAME! I know the reason for the thunder. I know the physics of the rain. But when a child asks where love went, All my wisdom sounds the same. I can give the fire a shape. I cannot take away the pain. BINAH! BINAH! What is knowledge If it cannot make us whole? A child had opened up a watch, Its tiny wheels across the floor. She said, "The hands keep coming back. Why doesn't he come through the door?" I showed her what the springs could do, How every cog obeys a plan. She closed the watch and looked at me. I had no answer in my hands. I knew the speed of passing seconds. I knew what made the pendulum swing. But I could not explain her father. I could not explain a thing. I could tell her how the world works. I could show her how the planets move. But how do you explain an absence To someone who has everything to lose? BINAH! GIVE THE FIRE A SHAPE! GIVE THE NAMELESS THING A NAME! I know the reason for the thunder. I know the physics of the rain. But when a child asks where love went, All my wisdom sounds the same. I can give the fire a shape. I cannot take away the pain. BINAH! BINAH! What is knowledge If it cannot make us whole? I thought that understanding Was the ending of the fear. That every wound would disappear If I could make its meaning clear. I thought the universe was waiting For someone clever enough to see. But all the walls I built around it Only kept the world from me. A mind can draw a perfect circle Around an empty chair. While something human stands outside And waits for us to care. Perhaps the truth is not a kingdom. Perhaps it isn't ours to own. Perhaps the mind can build a thousand houses And still not know the meaning of a home. BINAH! GIVE THE FIRE A SHAPE! BUT LEAVE A DOOR IT CAN ESCAPE! I KNOW THE REASON FOR THE THUNDER! I KNOW THE PHYSICS OF THE RAIN! BUT I CAN'T BRING BACK WHAT IS MISSING! I CAN'T EXPLAIN AWAY THE PAIN! BINAH! BINAH! I CAN MEASURE ALL THE DISTANCE BETWEEN THE EARTH AND EVERY STAR! BUT I CANNOT MEASURE SORROW! I CANNOT TELL YOU WHERE WE ARE! And all the knowledge In the universe... Cannot mend A broken heart. I couldn't bring him back. I couldn't stop the hands. I sat beside her. She reached for me. I took her hand. The watch kept ticking. And I began... To understand.
