You know
You think you know it
But you won’t step into it
You won’t allow yourself to be touched by it
You won’t take the risk to even try
Your brain assists you
By cooking up all these reasons why you shouldn’t
Very noble
Very reasonable
Very safe
Don’t worry
Nothing will ever happen now
It’s too late, you killed it
No, you never let it come to life
Except as a forbidden fantasy that comes back to haunt you in the dark early mornings after a particularly vivid dream of the million things that could have been
You feel it
The remnants of whatever it was
It’s lodged there in your heart
Life’s inevitable melancholy
Your brain, I mean reason, wakes up again
Tells you there are so many things
So many people
So many other lives you could have lived
But this one here is yours now
This breath that you hear
It’s still dark
Your heart is awake, undeterred
Still returning to what could have been
The moments when you chose not to do or let not doing choose for you
Too late now
Listen to the life around you
Yes, you love that too, it’s true
But next time, yes, next time you will
Take that risk
Go for it
You can just imagine it now
As the day is dawning
And your heart falls back asleep
Time for coffee
There’s work to be done
Artwork: Wild Swing (2022) by Andi Ipaktchi.
It was love at first sight when I saw this piece at Andi’s exhibit Dénouement in 2024. There was no way I was not buying it.