I don’t know why Virginia Woolf would do it,
How could she do it?
Why would Virginia put in all those stones
in her coat,
And walk into a river?
And why would Sylvia Plath do it?
And why on Earth would Robin Williams do it?
After teaching us to Seize the day!
I thought all we needed was a purpose
And the more noble the purpose
The more willing we would be
Of existing
And yet all these people,
and countless others,
so sensitive to the world,
so generous with their gifts,
still could not carry themselves
through life.
They reshaped the world around them
Yet it could not fill
The void within.
And sometimes I wonder
if that void even needs filling.
Maybe all it asks
Is that we sink inside it,
Travel somewhere else—
Maybe it is just a portal.
And to sink deeper into something,
All we need is more weight,
And that’s what we do—
We carry the weight of the world,
The weight of our routines,
The weight of our emotions,
The weight of failures and regrets,
Even the weight of achievements
And the expectations that follow.
Maybe we are drawn to that
Bittersweet sting of hollowness
Because illusions take shape
As we slip away from life,
When life finally reveals
What it can no longer hide—
All that once mattered
Matters no more
And yet we can comprehend
That it must not be the end
When we step into
the other side.
