Cliff of souls
By Michelle c. morris
You, oh you all.
Each of you, balanced atop another, precariously:
As if you were a precipice, poised to fall.
You wide, sweeping mountains of souls.
You fail to see
that you are joined
with millions who came before,
and millions yet to come.
And still you look inside at me and dare to ask:
"Am I free?"
And no, you are not.
For if you were,
How would you withstand the flood?
You are held by rock upon rock upon rock,
And bound by the roots of the tree
that is life.
For if you were free, you would fall in the flood.
And yet, so insistent you are that you are alone,
That you are each sufficient unto yourselves.
A Note from the Author:
"I wrote this in February before the coronvirus crisis hit South Africa and without really having coronavirus or lockdowns or social distancing in mind. Yet, when I stumbled upon it again the other day I was hit with the, somewhat profound, realization that the poem seemed almost to foreshadow our current crisis and lockdown, in that we are all alone, we feel alone, and yet, we are not. The only way we will survive this virus is by staying alone, together. However, we all need everyone else to do that too, or we will all come tumbling down together, so to speak.
The poem was inspired by the attached photo which I had taken on a hike that morning."
- Michelle C. Morris
Photograph by Michelle C. Morris