Close your eyes,
breathe deeply, listen.
All of us are
fantastically complex beings,
pretending we’re not.
Like breath that is both
voluntary and involuntary,
what we do and
what happens to us is arbitrary.
When I wake up, I awaken
from illusions that imply.
Illusion that
black implies white.
That self implies other.
That life implies death,
and death implies life.
I am no stranger, not a transient,
not here by fluke, not here on probation.
I am fabric, structure, existence.
I am reality.
I am
stars exploding across multiverses—
I am
a celebration of infinite fireworks.
When I dream reality,
I dream that I am separate,
that I am not God.
When I awaken,
I awaken from illusions.
I awaken to the reality that
I am,
that we are all—
ultimate existence.
We are all God,
pretending we’re not.
© 2025 Bruno Talerico
Stafford challenge 123/365.
Inspired by Alan Watts.
Desert Dweller 