Soft And Unrepeatable

We waste so much energy trying to cover up who we are

When beneath every attitude is the want to be loved

And beneath every anger is a wound to be healed

And beneath every sadness is the fear that there will not be enough time

When we hesitate in being direct we unknowingly slip something on, some added layer of protection

That keeps us from feeling the world

And often that thin covering is the be

ginning of a loneliness

Which if not put down diminishes our chances for joy

It’s like wearing gloves every time we touch something

And then forgetting we chose to put them on

We complain that nothing feels quite real

In this way our challenge each day is not to get dressed to face the world

But to unglove ourselves

So that the doorknob feels cold

And the car handle feels wet

And the kiss good-bye feels like the lips of another being

Soft and unrepeatable

~Mark Nepo

Art by Aradhna Amrit Vani