Written in response to a friend’s post on FetLife — and a lifelong fascination with how our lives are affected by our bodies and how they’re seen — I wrote this song. It might be the opener for a musical that’s brewing in my head.
LYRICS
VERSE I
From a thought in a head to a dot in an egg in your mother
Then it grows and divides as its code overrides ev’ry other
Chaos springs from that initial condition
Despite all of your prayin’ and wishin’
Maybe you’ll get a start with a hole in your heart (nonmetaphorical)
Or with bowels you distrust causing howls and your life is deplorable
Ev’ry part of your anatomy delivers
Ways to baffle all your future caregivers
CHORUS I
We all come from the same place
And that place is nothing and nowhere
Occupying a distinct space
From the insect to the giant polar bear
And the taste of your tongue
How you smell when you’re young
How your muscles are strung
And how well you are hungry
For knowledge and life
Whether you want a wife
Whether you handle strife
Or will fall on your knife
Your body says
Your body knows
And in the end
Your body will be
Back to nothing
VERSE II
And when you go outside are you true? Do you hide from the masses?
Do they stare or find fault? Do they care? Is it salt or molasses?
Do you garner attention remotest?
Or complete ev’ry journey unnoticed?
And when you raise your voice, meet their gaze, make a choice, do they hear you?
When you talk, do you boom? When you walk in a room do they fear you?
Embryology defines your limits
Then the world determines your place in it
CHORUS II
We all come from the same place
And that place is nothing and nowhere
Occupying a distinct space
From the insect to the giant polar bear
And the way that they treat you
Whenever they meet you
They might try to cheat you
Or maybe complete you
They surmise your mass
To determine your class
And the brass of your sass
From your presence, alas
Your body says
Your body shows
And in the end
Your body will be
Back to nothing
BRIDGE
Temporarily healthy
Temporarily thrive
Temporarily able
Temporarily alive
VERSE III (partial) & CLOSING
From a thought in your head maybe not, then you’re dead; well, not living
Much as you will conclude, like this tune, pretty soon unforgiving
To nothing
Nothing
Nothing
Temporary life