Rise

Unknown

Rise

One thing happens, then another.

In the long slow rise, so many hands

reach out and lift us

over fallen branches, hidden drops,

old crops of stone. The moon

tilts up its yellow chin. The clouds

disperse. We grow into a face

our mothers recognize as someone else:

a father's father, sister's sister.

Nobody is single in this world,

that's all we know, will ever know,

about the way we come and go.

We're pulled to presence by a doctor's

urgent, gentle hands; we're laid

to sleep and covered over. Nobody's

alone. I'm here with you. Here

reaching for your fingers, holding on.

Jay Parini

“Nobody is single in this world.” That line is worth some thought. It's not confined to genetics or proximity or time. We are connected, a "we" - past, present, and future. Which means, hard as it might be to accept, that how we think of and treat ourselves is as crucial as how we think of and treat others. The important things that we can't seem to do for ourselves should perhaps then be done for the sake of others. We are more than merely ourselves. We are links, we are layers, shelters, balms, we are threads in the web that holds us all up, that supports us. "Nobody is single in this world." Everyone is necessary. So if you're sinking, reach out your hand. It matters to us all.