Altruism

What if we got outside ourselves and there

really was an outside out there, not just

our insides turned inside out? What if there

really were a you beyond me, not just

the waves off my own fire, like those waves off

the backyard grill you can see the next yard through,

though not well—just enough to know that off

to the right belongs to someone else, not you.

What if, when we said I love you, there were

a you to love as there is a yard beyond

to walk past the grill and get to? To endure

the endless walk through the self, knowing through a bond

that has no basis (for ourselves are all we know)

is altruism: not giving, but coming to know

someone is there through the wavy vision

of the self’s heat, love become a decision.

By Molly Peacock