Words on a Chalkboard

"I am alive, but I am dead." Words etched onto a chalkboard In the empty English department at UVA. Nestled between "Greg loves Katie" And "Saxophonist E. Hayes was here," This philosophical statement made me stop. A thought during COVID, no doubt-- The questioning, "Who am I?" "Why is this happening?" And "What does it all mean?"

By my Gurus' mercy, I felt a twinge of pain inside. Stirrings of compassion, As I wondered about the author: Is he or she beginning their search For the transcendental, For the self and its Source, the Supreme? Turning away from the chalkboard, The sentence still burned in my mind, One thought came to me: "This is why we preach."