The sage governs
by emptying minds and hearts,
by weakening ambitions and strengthening bones. ~ Lao-Tzu

The sage governs…
and the definition of a sage
is a “profoundly wise man…”
It’s a word that skipped
the tendency to create sagess or sagette
but would you call a woman a sage?
Would you use solon or wise woman?
The “sage” doesn’t argue semantics,
doesn’t feel overlooked
by failing to be defined.
The sage governs.
The sage governs by emptying minds and hearts,
by weakening ambitions and strengthening bones.
Weakening ambitions makes sense.
That’s part of being a sage, being wise,
of governing rather than ruling,
rather than being an autocrat.
And governing, ruling, even autocratism
can happen in normal life of course.
But what does strengthening bones mean?
One suggestion is strong bones
mean strong will.
Maybe strengthening bones
is taking what is already strong
and building on that.
We concentrate on strengths
and know when we would be weak
there’s a greater entity,
a more profound truth,
that is the strength
on which we concentrate.