Human Existence

To be human is to ache in the marrow,

To carry pain like a secret we can’t let go

We lash out when we are broken,

Though the wound bleeds us

Just the same

We walk on the bones of ancient stars

Their dust threading through our veins

We are the light they left behind

Both ephemeral and endless we shimmer

Our hearts are both vault and void,

Echoing with the longing of what

We cannot hold

There is a pulse beating

in rhythm with times retreat

a fleeting claim on eternity

Our hands reach for what will hurt us,

Clutching shadows that slip through fingers

Our arms cradle what will leave us

As if to hold will stop the unraveling

To be human is to embody the contradictions,

To be vast and small, fleeting and eternal

To be the universe dreaming of itself

And to know the dream will someday end