I had an epiphany
Several years ago
In which I realized that it is not necessary to have an
Opinion about everything
Or, if you do, it is not necessary
To express it higgily piggily and unsolicited.
Before this illumination I did not doubt
For a moment
That I was obliged to have and
Other people wanted and indeed
Needed
To listen to my judgments.
These days I form few opinions
And share none that are unsolicited
Except sometimes I forget
And blurt out a critique,
Some position that
I have come to believe and in the moment have an evangelical impulse to spread
So then all I can do is stop in mid-opinion
Back away apologetically and say
But of course I don’t really know
And hope the other person buys my story.