Early Darkness by Louise Gluck
How can you say earth should give me joy? Each thing born is my burden; I cannot succeed with all of you.
And you would like to dictate to me, you would like to tell me who among you is most valuable, who most resembles me. And you hold up as an example the pure life, the detachment you struggle to acheive--
How can you understand me when you cannot understand yourselves? Your memory is not powerful enough, it will not reach back far enough--
Never forget you are my children. You are not suffering because you touched each other but because you were born, because you required life separate from me.
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