Read, My Son, Read Not Poem by Oduro Bright Amoh

Read, my son, read not
They have stared too hard and have become blind
Those who should have just passed it by.
They have learnt till they lost their mind,
While others by doing nothing have grown wise.
This life's train has left a generation behind
Who strived to find proof of everything.
Live simply, boy, and let well alone
And learn from those whom by keeping quiet
Won for themselves speech's throne.
Do not dig deep where there are worms
But scratch the surface where the treasure is shown
Lest you might be digging your own grave.
Read, my son, read not
Lest your faith be shattered
Like a dropped clay pot.
Stand aside, watch them learn:
They still cannot occupy the slot
Awarded to men of brains.
Mortal men have risen
Where angels have met their fall.
Some men from torment in prison
Have endured to become kings.
Some by reasoning have lost their reason-
Ing. Too much wisdom has become folly
Forget, my son, the ferreting of truth
Lest you might discover falsehoods
And quit trying to refine the uncouth
Otherwise yourself might grow wild;
Then neither education may soothe
Nor learning your life refine.
But stick to that only one thing
Without asking if a better one is somewhere else;
Whether some will a better life bring.
Some by peering into something everywhere
Have become blind to everything
As the pangs of their search escalate.
They say just a little learning is troublesome
But does not the Good Book say
Too much devotion to books is wearisome?
My son books will abound
Some awful, some sweet and awesome
Yet read, my son, read not.