Music to accompany the poem: Anouar Brahem “Le Pas du Chat Noir”.
It’s only when you are alone,
you can see yourself as you
truly are
in all your despair, in
all your wretchedness.
You can also catch a glimpse of your shadow
and see what you have
tried so hard not to.
Tête à tête with one’s own soul
can be terrifying.
There is no one to hold our hand,
no one to be consoled by, no one to soothe our pain.
Jesus spent forty days in a desert,
alone with his anguish, his
loneliness, and his vulnerability.
He listened to the whispers of solitude,
and he was
ready for crucifixion.
He passed through a ‘straight gate’ of existence,
and he died to his old self for his
sins,
not for ours,
to be born anew.
He became what he always
was—
human, all too human.
So you, too, must listen to the whispers of solitude, and be ready.
And the readiness is all, said Hamlet, before
he fell silent.
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