Instinct

Do you think about it at all?

That we are trapped. There's nothing
ahead, and nothing back.

Trapped that we didn't
get a say in it.
We let out our first cry,
unaware.

We suckled in silence,
learnt to walk,
to say "mama"
and "papa", and the name
of our favorite aunt.
We wanted toys,
then books,
then beer,
then a diamond ring.
It was all planned and expected.

We laughed a bit.
We spent time wondering
why and how we got
to be here.

Then a couple of years
later, we watched
a little red-bodied newly-born
coming out of a womb,
letting out their first cry.
We chose a name for them,
like ours was chosen.
We taught them to walk,
bought them
toys, then books, then hugged
them goodbye for college.

Then laughed a bit more,

until our morning routine
started with capsules.
Until there was
a need for a walking stick
or a wheelchair.

Then we went back into nothing.

We didn't even get a say
in how it all must end.

I'm trapped.

I think about it all the time.