Born Alone

I’m born alone
Which sounds--

You hear it

It’s something

People say

We’re born alone

And die alone

And I think that just means--

There’s a moment

When you come

Onto this planet

Where

Even though

Somebody has their hands on you

And your mother and father

Are looking at you

And crying

And everybody’s so happy

You’re alone

Because you have no connection

To any part of humanity yet

You’re of humanity

But you’re not connected to it

Not really

And when I look ahead--

Although I’m prone to believing

That looking ahead

Is a bad

Bad

Idea

--When I do look ahead

I see that it’s the same way

When you leave the earth

The first thing that goes

Even if you’re perceived

As being

Of sound mind

Is your sense of understanding

But--But--

That’s not a bad thing

It’s a--

In fact, it’s a marvelous thing

Because understanding

Or, the attempt

Because it’s only ever really

An attempt

At understanding

So many of the the things around you

And that attempt

It does something to you

As a human being

It’s a good thing

That--that attempt

But it’s work

It’s hard work

And when you die

You let go of all that

The work

Because you’re granted

A kind of--universal understanding

And you become at peace

With all the things

You thought you needed

To understand

But couldn’t

And shouldn’t

You know?

And when you’re born

When I’m born

It’s the same thing

I’m not trying

To make sense

Of anything

I’m just crying

Because there’s so much

Going on

And so much noise

And the moment

When I’m left alone

Actually alone

In a room with just--

With just other newborns

Like myself

I finally feel like--

Now I can start

I can start the process

Of being silent

And letting the world

Talk to me

To tell me

What it is

I need to know

But it doesn’t

And it does

It’s silent

And in the silence

I learn

I take it all in

We agree

That there’s energy

On the earth

That’s been here

Since the dawn of time

But we think that energy

Is only present

In activity

And not in moments

Of stillness

And there’s--

I have to tell you

There’s great energy

In stillness

Powerful energy

There’s something

To being alone

So it’s--

It’s nothing to be afraid of

Not really

Your whole life

Every time you’re lonely

What you think is the result

Of being alone

Is really just

The result

Of too much

Too much coming into your--

Into your life

Your being

Who you are

And if you could push it all away

And just have that moment

Like--like in the eye of a storm

You’d be--

Well, you’d be living

In as much grace

As anyone

Ever has

But it’s difficult

It’s--

It’s easy

At the beginning

And at the end

Because you’re so willing

To just let yourself

Be powerless

But every other time--

It’s probably

The hardest thing

In the world