Wrinkled Gray

We collect information with boundless passion.
Facts, both practical and arcane,
take nest within folded gray matter.
Have you ever wondered
if its folds occur from accumulated knowledge?
Would the mind of a new born child
be smooth and bare?
I'm sure someone knows.
Dates, shopping lists,
food allergies of friends,
the winning score from last night,
the cross-street in downtown
for that great new bar you heard about,
perhaps the knowledge
of an upcoming celestial event
that passes once every several
hundred years.
They collide spectacularly
like the scene of an accident
at rush hour on the freeway.
Can our mind distinguish the worth
of one piece of information over another?
Or is worth a purely democratic affair?
It would seem unreasonable
for knowing the birthday of your favorite
celebrities spouse to take precedence
over the ability to recall the use
of the quadratic equation.
It is such a pitiful being
sitting there
alone in darkness
subject to the whims
of our baser instincts
when all it ever wants
is for a moments rest
and to read that book
you picked up at the airport
before your last flight.