The Verbs We Live And Breathe

This prompt requires of me to present myself with #nofilter.

Well, forgive me for a response that is rather off kilter

But I don’t think I can provide a reply so finely defined.

What can be defined are words,

Words that your peers have dictated.

Words that within the confines of your mind have reverberated.

Words that rushed through your veins as your heart palpitated.

Your eyes dilated.

You became elated or devastated.

The verbs you’ve not only heard but are the words of your life.

When in the company of others,

Whether in reality or online,

We are often inclined to resign

Ourselves to embody a simplistic narrative

Told in a collection of verbs.

Our image we’re compelled to pixelate.

Our talk we must carefully enunciate.

Our social circles demand us to ingratiate.

Our opinions we’re coerced to forsake.

All of this effort to acclimate

In the hopes to validate

Ourselves.

These verbs of ours are easy to articulate, but wait!

What is left after we shed the heavy cloak of action off our shoulders?

Me.

What is “me” exactly?

I’m not far enough in my own self-discovery to know for sure,

And perhaps I never will be.

That kind of speech is far beyond my own reach,

But maybe that’s how life is intended.

Not knowing,

Seeking,

Aspects of ourselves we start cultivating,

Then we’re evolving,

And suddenly the cycle’s repeating.

It’s not possible to find words representative of the whole of our soul.

But maybe our filters, these verbs, can help us sift through the book of life until we find what is beyond language.

Beyond simple expression.

Until we find what is “me”

Beyond the verbs we live and breathe.