Mortal Being (2024)

Thunderous and tremendous it cries out,

“You are a mortal being”

Soundlessly and brilliantly, we are aware of the fact,

Aware, then forgetting, then aware, then…

One speck of knowledge akin to god-kind, a sacred treasure

Falling ordinary, like dust

And that blessed and universal hope of freedom and peace lingers in the wind

A desire so all-embracing, few of us know it, yet we all talk about it like we have held it in our very hands

And of course, one promise of death

Along with all the other beings, but are they aware of the fact, not forgetting, but never knowing?

Is awareness distinctly a thing to be described?

Is its origin a place I can stretch out and slumber?

The longing for the good life and the knowledge of fragility like bitter and sweet counterweights on our shoulders

The good burden

And if so hostility like a blow to the chest

Out of breath

On our hands and knees

Deep breath

Stand up

Look to the sky and yell back with burning in my lungs,

“I am a mortal being, Beautifully aware!”