Wednesday, 12 March 2014

Altruism by Molly Peacock

What if we got outside ourselves and there  
really was an outside out there, not just  
our insides turned inside out? What if there  
really were a you beyond me, not just  
the waves off my own fire, like those waves off  
the backyard grill you can see the next yard through,  
though not well -- just enough to know that off  
to the right belongs to someone else, not you.  
What if, when we said I love you, there were  
a you to love as there is a yard beyond  
to walk past the grill and get to? To endure  
the endless walk through the self, knowing through a bond  
that has no basis (for ourselves are all we know)  
is altruism: not giving, but coming to know  
someone is there through the wavy vision  
of the self's heat, love become a decision.

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