we seek experiences
needing them in fact
to build up knowledge
of the world to search
for our own answers
to the eternal questions
confronting humankind
yet the tragedy inheres
in that the accumulation
of experiences we find
dulls our responsiveness
and blunts our minds
thus draining not filling
the vessel of wisdom
as if forming a shell
around the soft kernel
of an uncrackable nut
shutting us off forever
from the essence of life.