A Heartbeat

First you must appear.

From darkness you’ll hear a rhythm,

a beating soft and soothing.

You’ll emerge into The World

hurled hurriedly

into blurred hands and bright lights,

obnoxious sounds and your own cries.

To see and be seen.

To hear and be heard.

You will not remember these moments,

they will fade from the mind,

they will subside and leave

like sand through a sieve.

Then begins the journey

where the light arrives in the sky

until overshadowed by the darkness of night,

and these are the cycles you will find.

These are the beats in your story.

The stitches of your timeline.

You’ll learn to live,

finding reasons to laugh and cry.

You’ll find pain and passion,

boredom and surprise.

You will know your heart,

and your mind,

and your body.

These are the steps it takes

to appear and disappear.

For when your loved ones have left,

and your name is just a breath,

you’ll be encapsulated once more

by the darkness and a rhythmic beat.

until there is silence,

and then all becomes clear.

Because we’re born,

and we live,

before it’s time to disappear.