is the child
of the marriage of self and body;
is the awareness of separateness
where none exists;
is the delighting in separateness,
its fearfulness and competitiveness.

It is as though each of your fingers
claimed
autonomy as of right;
an individual name,
a social security number,
an index-linked pension,
an unalienable option
to a thumb transplant;
and refused
to play the piano
in unison and harmony
unless they were granted
an equal entitlement of notes
and an equal share of calorific nourishment.

And the shop stewards, the hands,
encouraged them in this madness
and deducted a percentage of their calories
at source.

.