Perhaps Poem by Seamus O' Brian

Perhaps you thought I was as others;
Perhaps you thought I breathed
the air as others do, to live, and not
in fact to glean the flavor of life from
living; the pungent scent of the journey
from the colorful chaos of the trail;
perhaps you thought that my heart
beats to sustain my life,
and not, in fact, as the very applause
and celebration of my living;
perhaps you thought I sought favor,
the affirmations of human attention,
in no way understanding that I dwell
securely in the fortress of knowledge
that I am a small but integral function
of the totality of the universe,
absolutely distinct from
your kinetic oscillations,
your bioelectric perturbations,
your self-targeted ruminations.
Perhaps you forgot
or never considered
that I am I.

The celebration of my life
never needed your applause.