You Were Always Me

Under the weighted blanket of stars,

feeling heavy with living,

I posed to God the most frequently-asked, the most human of questions:

"Why am I here?"

God said:

"Because I wanted a friend."

    "But why, then, didn't you just keep me there with you,

instead of in this prison of a half-life?" 

God replied:

     "Because I wanted you to be empathetic to my suffering."  

Ok, then, I thought... What else is there to do?

"Plus," God said, "I have given you the whole world."

I looked at Ursa Major. 

"I made that bear to dance across the sky for you in starry

formation.  Do you ever wonder if night will fall?  Do you ever doubt

there will be some light in it?"

So the world was mine--

it always has been--

and why not take it? 

When I recited to God Say I Am You,

God said:

"Just look at your hands and feet

and use them to be a friend to all.

And you were always me."  

Bismillah al-rahman al-rahim.