Eventually, I realized,
I got it wrong.

When I was a kid
and suspected that the universe
simply ceased to exist
the moment I left a room,
that everything just blinked out
when I was unavailable to experience it?
That, apparently,
was an error on my part.

It is not the world that stops
when I exit,
but rather, quite the opposite.

I guess you all could have told me
how dependent I was on you
to continue my own existence,
but why would I have believed you?
What could have possibly made me
accept that
the minute anyone left me to my own devices
I would slow and stutter
and soon become nothing at all?

I survive only as a reflection of others.
I have no purpose
if you’re not around.
I wish I knew that
earlier in this life
but it’s good to know at all, I suppose
and anyway,
how different is that
from the rest of the pack?

We all are reflections
of our loved ones
and without them
we are diminished
to the point of nothingness, no?

Or is that just me?