What makes a human a human?
Is it the
Tu
tump
In our heartbeat that keeps us alive?
The glimmer of fear or hope in our eyes?
Are we an inhale? An exhale? The flow of our breath?
The
Tik
Tok
of the clock,
life's reminder of death?
Maybe we're just a generous smile.
The sound of a laugh that rings on for a while.
Are we a helping hand or an ear to listen?
Tears that roll down stained cheeks, making them glisten?
Are we a fond memory replayed in somebody's head?
Their first thought in the morning and last before bed?
Are we a brain with problems to solve,
and emotions allowing us to constantly evolve?
Are we a mouth made for speaking our truth,
Or legs that carry us home even long after our youth?
Are we made up of cartilage, bones, blood and skin?
What about sorrow, joy, faith, or sin?
Are we the heaviness in our chest full of lies
Or the excited flutter, stomach filled butterflies.
Are we a song that's already been sung
Or a riddle, that belittles and twists up our tongue?
Are we the pages we wish we would have wrote?
An echo of words that got caught in our throat?
Are we merely a tooth, arm or a toe?
Most would agree that the answer is no.
So is it the
Tu
Tump
Of our heartbeat that keeps us alive?
What makes a human, a human is our need to survive.
YOU ARE READING
What We Wouldn't Say Aloud
PoetryAnd it's in these moments, when all we can do is feel that one begins to whisper words into paper.
