Elegy for an alternate self
- - -Say there are no words. Say that we are conjoinedfrom birth, or better still, say we are myself.—But I still talk to myself, I build my worldthrough language, so if we say there are no wordsthis is not enough. Say we are instead some animal,or better yet, a plant, or a flagellum motoringaimlessly around. (Say that humans are the only thingsthat reason. Say that we’re the only things that worry.)
-Say that I am separate. To say there’s everything elseand then there’s me is wrong. Each thing is separate:there is no whole in the world. Say this is both goodand bad, or rather, say there is no good or bad but onlybeing, more and more of it always added, none taken outthough it can be forgotten. Say that forgettingis a function of our remembering. (Say that humans onlyworry about separation. Say that only humans feel it.)
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