Pierced
I was seven years old the first time it happened to me,
staring at some busy ants, my eyes lost focus
and out of “nowhere” suddenly,
the awareness,
out of my self,
knowing that this world, this existence,
is an act of discretion.
It did not have to be.
We did not have to be.
I did not have to be.
So out of the suspended awe,
the silent question emerges, “Why?”
and like holding my breath,
it only lasts a long moment.
No point in even trying to cling to
what I had no power to cause or control.
I had no answer to the simple question then.
Last night it returned, You returned
with your mind-tingling gift,
this existence did not have to exist.
So why, what is the point?
Being older, I can at least posit an answer,
but what became so very clear at that moment,
what pierced my soul in that moment of awareness
is that the only sensible behavior is kindness.
The only sensible behavior is kindness,
everywhere,
every time.