I Am Human

Muted phone.

Walks in the cold and rain.

Unopened email. 

Mailbox left locked.

Drawn curtains.

Outcomes seem certain.

I sever encounters with the world. 

Is it true?

Nothing can seep in?

No-one can penetrate my unwilling shell? 

I will numbness to be possible.

But memories penetrate.

Sounds, tastes and smells,  

drip and wet through 

The rough material of my resolve.

Scenarios and clips of life,

My past life,

My future.

Knock, open and enter.

without an invitation.

There are times when…

My muted phone,

The silence of swimming under water,

The cold and rain encasing me

become helpless and hopeless barriers.

Words, hope and prospects of joy 

Infuse my shell.

And bring me back.

To the open window.

“You are human,” 

Is the whisper I hear in my sleep.

I awake humbled.

Again open to encounters. 

To life.

“I am human”, I say.

And I once again join the human race.