Simply

 

It has been attributed to Albert Einstein to have said, “If you cannot explain it simply, you don’t understand it well enough.” 

Simply 

There are many things 

about which I can speak 

simply 

I can speak simply 

About death and dying 

And while I do understand 

the names and distinctions 

that knowledge proves nothing 

I can write something simple 

About love 

I can speak poetically 

about the highs and lows 

This in no way portends 

I understand love 

I can wax eloquently 

About death 

And while I understand 

The concepts 

Of living and dying 

the entirety eludes me 

Love escapes my grasp 

content to be as much 

a mystery as a revelation 

While death sits plainly in my palm 

Demanding to be known fully 

What I fear most 

is not death 

which asks nothing 

I do not already owe 

But love 

love asks for more 

than I can measure 

more than I can rehearse 

It asks me to stay 

Without guarantees 

and call that faith 

And, if I explain it simply 

It is not because I understand 

but because simplicity itself 

is a kind of surrender 

To speak simply 

is not to know 

It is merely to lay down 

words like stones 

and hope they are heavy enough 

to endure 

© Ron Simpson Jr. 

December 13, 2025