Trapped
Caged
For a lifetime
Nothing to feed me but electronic impulses
I can't see without eyes
I can't hear without ears
I can't smell without a nose
I can't taste without a mouth
I can't feel without skin
I can't breathe without lungs
I can't dance without legs
I can't hug without arms
I can't even love without all of them in communion together
And yet
I control them all
Without me, they couldn't sense
Without me, they couldn't function
Without me, they couldn't connect
Without me, they couldn't learn
Without me, they couldn't love
Without me, they couldn't live
So what am I
Three pounds of fat, water, protein, carbohydrates and salts
A store house of billions of neurons
And somehow they all find a way to communicate
With the cage that holds me captive
But what I really want to know is
Am I her
When she looks in the mirror
Does she see me
She has never seen me
But she's been told I am here
But does she see me
Am I her
© Ruby Neumann
Poet's Note: written February 26, 2023
Encephalon may be just a fancy word for the brain, but it is a name. And everyone wants a name, an identity they can call their own. It's a way of mattering, being recognized. I will never see that which is life to me. I will never hold that which gives me purpose and ability. I will never totally understand everything about Encephalon, but maybe this poem is my gratitude. Maybe this poem is my way of saying… "I see you!"
