separateness

I was standing in a crowd,

thinking vaguely about nothing,

when it came to me.

I looked around,

then at my body,

and realized something.

Only I can look out from my eyes.

Only I can listen through my ears.

My hands are only my hands.

Could I share them somehow?

There were connections –

phones, earphones, tablets –

away from the immediate proximity,

to the world beyond.

I was not alone.

We were together,

in our volunteered separateness.