All the wisdom of Babylon

“The thing that the king asks is difficult, and 
no one can show it to the king except the gods, 
whose dwelling is not with flesh.”

They can only rearrange, those magi
whose god is their own minds. Taking what is
known already, they squint first through this eye
then that. Ask for wisdom, they will reply
as the king’s itching ear longs to hear. Ask
for revelation and they will sigh:
“What the king requires is too hard a task!”
Wisdom which struts its stuff in the street and basks
in its own sun-tanned glory has nothing
to say but theories about childhood, masks
for its own blankness. True wisdom comes right
when we’ve least reason to trust human sight.