I

I don't want life to end; I want it to stop for one moment. Let me catch my breath. Let me soak in the stillness for a brief moment and know that everything that feels so consequential is just a speck. Meaningless and temporal. Just like me.

I want to power down like a computer, and you don't have to go to the appropriate screen to select shut down or restart; pull the plug. Let me sit in the frizzing darkness of static and white noise: deep contemplation, meditation without purpose.

I want to dissolve in the grass like bread crumbs in the rain, softly soaking into the soil. I want to wonder who nourishes who - me or the earth - and be grateful for whatever answer grows from beneath—the simplicity and complexity of life.

I - such a simple singular letter that holds so much meaning, and why? Consciousness seems so individual, yet we all feel it right now. We feel the pain, the burnout, the fear, and the anger. Maybe we're far more connected. Perhaps we can decide to stop.