Simulacrum

I stand here

myself and another

distantly trying to whisper words into your ear,

trying to dry the tears from my eyes

I try to cement the feeling of loss

into some monument of memory

so that whoever stumbles upon it,

with their idle tasks buzzing in their head,

will know that there was a heart there,

a feeling and a life that shouldn’t be forgotten.

Capgras syndrome replaced us all,

bit by bit and day by day.

A lack of action erasing the actions we took,

and a single action immobilizing us.

We struggle to know,

when we lift a finger to point at the sunrise

or a bird landing in a tree beautifully silent,

that our choices have meaning and weight.

That ache

when the wind stops and the world is muted,

is reason for us knowing the worth of it all.

Where we see the light through branches,

and know the peace

of silently touching someone’s head

to comfort them,

we find our honest reply.