The Illusion of Separateness

The ancients called it ekstasis,
or outside oneself.
But does that really happen?
Are we ever outside ourselves?

Lovers do not live in time—
coitus, and then a shift in focus:
the clock starts…

Glint of sun off a jumbo jet
turning to the south…

jet noise morphing into chattering birds…

the salt taste of pure joy
while body surfing…

the old man stroking the smooth bark
of the curbside tree he used to climb…

Not one of these experiences
stands apart from me,
outside of myself.
Nor do I stand apart from the not-me.

I am a cell-sized component
of the whole body of all creatures,
organic and inorganic, in the cosmos.