A meaningful encounter with Swami Vivekananda in Chicago
By Anu Prabhala, Maryland.

With everything unfolding in our nation and across the world, I found myself longing—almost aching—for a message of unity. I have never encountered that idea expressed more beautifully or more boldly than in Swami Vivekananda’s address at the World Parliament of Religions in Chicago in 1893.

What he offered was not a soft call for tolerance, but a radical reimagining of unity itself: unity across religions, yes—but also between science and philosophy, reason and faith, intellect and intuition. His words dissolved borders we insist on keeping rigid—between belief systems, nations, even between what we call perfection and imperfection—revealing them instead as expressions of a single, indivisible truth.

At the heart of his message was a simple yet demanding idea: happiness does not arise from narrowing identity, but from expanding it. As Vivekananda put it, “Happiness comes best from universal consciousness.” And to reach that expansiveness, he insisted, we must loosen our grip on the anxious, isolated self: “To gain universal individuality, this miserable little-person individuality must go.”

More than a century later, the address endures—not only for its philosophical clarity, but for its quiet poetry and moral courage.

Photo: Swami Vivekananda in Chicago, 1893 (handwritten words say, “one infinite pure and holy—beyond thought beyond qualities I bow down to thee”). Credit: The Art Institute of Chicago.

When Two Worlds Quietly Merged:
I felt the full weight of that courage standing in Fullerton Hall at the Art Institute of Chicago, where Swami Vivekananda delivered his world-altering address—just one floor below George Seurat’s Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte, one of my favorite paintings of all time. In that moment, two long-standing currents of my life converged: my love of art, particularly French painting, and my grounding in Vedanta, a philosophy that feels like a pair of well-worn jeans: real, practical, comforting, and quietly accepting.

Art and philosophy, France and India, my adopted country and my birthplace—under one roof, they did not compete. They conversed.

That is what happens, I have learned, when we allow the world to shape us: the Self expands to make room for more of humanity, not less.

Humble Rooms, World-Altering Ideas:
The room itself was modest—neither grand nor theatrical. Its restraint felt fitting. History reminds us repeatedly that transformative ideas rarely announce themselves with spectacle. Mahatma Gandhi, a failed lawyer, reshaped a nation. Franz Kafka, an anxious bureaucrat, altered world literature. John Harrison, a self-taught carpenter, solved the longitude problem that changed navigation forever.

Photo: Fullerton Hall’s podium, where Swami Vivekananda delivered his address in 1893.

And Swami Vivekananda—a nearly penniless, 30-year-old monk from India—arrived in America after a long sea voyage to speak at what was then a radical gathering: a Western, Christian, male-dominated Parliament of Religions. His courage lay not just in showing up, but in declaring—without apology—that no single tradition owned the truth.

As he told the audience plainly, “If anyone here hopes that his unity will come by the triumph of any one of the religions and the destruction of the others, to him I say, ‘Brother, yours is an impossible hope.’”

Plurality as Sacred Truth:
For Swami Vivekananda, the universe’s beauty lay precisely in its plurality—in many paths converging toward one reality. He captured this vision with enduring grace:

“As the different streams, having their sources in different places, all mingle their waters in the sea… so the different paths which men take all lead to Thee.”

In a world increasingly fractured by certainty and fear, his tone feels almost maternal—firm, reassuring, deeply confident in the human spirit. From his very first words—“Brothers and sisters of America”—he transformed a formal assembly into a human family, drawing a standing ovation that lasted nearly two minutes.

Unity, for him, was not sentimental. It was a moral necessity.

He explained this idea through an image as simple as it was profound: a seed planted in the earth. Surrounded by soil, air, and water, the seed does not become any one of them. It grows according to its own law—assimilating what it needs while remaining true to its nature. So too, he argued, with religion, each tradition must grow in its own way, enriched by others, yet never erased by them. It was this insistence on growth and individuality rather than imitation that gave his words such enduring force.

A Childhood Trained in Coexistence:
His message resonated deeply with my own upbringing in Dadar Parsi Colony in Mumbai, where a Zoroastrian agiary, Hindu temples, and a mosque existed within a few hundred feet of one another. You prayed to your own gods, and then, as children, we came together to play. Coexistence required no explanation.

That innocence was shaken during the Hindu–Muslim riots of the 1990s, when curfews confined us indoors for weeks and fear fractured neighborhoods that had once lived generously with difference. It was my first encounter with how easily love for the divine can be manipulated into division.

That is why Vivekananda’s message feels so urgent today. He reminded the world that faith is not defined by labels, but by a deeply human plea for meaning, reassurance, and strength in moments of vulnerability. Faith, in that sense, speaks a universal language.

He said, “So long as there is such a thing as weakness in the human heart, so long as there is a cry going out of the heart of man in his very weakness, there shall be a faith in God.”

What he seemed to suggest was that true faith is not defined by religious labels at all, but by a deeply human plea—for meaning, for strength, for reassurance in moments of vulnerability. In that sense, faith speaks a universal language, capable of being heard by many names. 

Not Belief, but Becoming:
Vivekananda also offered a quiet corrective: religion, he argued, is not about struggling to believe doctrines, but about realizing truth—about being and becoming. What mattered was not the form of God one worshipped, but the character one cultivated. Did faith enlarge the heart? Did it make room for others? Did it foster harmony?

In his vision, religion was not about believing in God. It was about becoming more fully human—again and again, with tolerance and acceptance at the center of the effort.

Perhaps that is why his words endure. In a fractured world, Vivekananda reminds us that unity is not an idea to defend, but a way of being to practice—and that only through a serene soul can we truly see the beauty of the world, and our place within it.

Let us learn to see beauty in unity. It is the only way humanity sustains itself.

Meaningfully yours,
Anu Prabhala

PS: Swami Vivekananda delivered a series of six speeches between September 11 -27, 1893 at the World Parliament of Religions in Chicago. Read a transcript of all six speeches here. Here’s an audio recording of his first speech (~28 minutes) delivered on September 11th, 1893.

Bio: Anu Prabhala is a senior consulting writer at the World Bank and a former French instructor who has spent her career working with nonprofit organizations in international development. Inspired by Vedanta, her personal writing explores travel and cross-cultural encounters as pathways to understanding beauty, wisdom, and our shared humanity.

This article, reprinted with permission from Anu’s Substack, Imperfectly Perfect, is part of a chapter from her forthcoming travel memoir, Imperfectly Perfect: Love Letters to the World | A Travel Memoir of Beauty, Scars, and the Human Spirit. To stay informed on the publication of the book, you can subscribe to Anu’s Substack at https://imperfectlyperfect.substack.com/subscribe (Subscription is free; choose “no pledge”). 

Amma, the world-renowned spiritual teacher and a humanitarian leader from India, shared her thoughts on the current state of humanity as we welcome the new year. Her talk attended by several thousand residents and international visitors at her center in Kerala (South India) was broadcast live on YouTube. She included many illuminating stories and sublime points to help us grow spiritually, and to make our lives better. To conclude her remarks she urged everyone to follow these 12 suggestions, if we are serious about improving ourselves, our family life, and our the world. While she spoke in her native tongue of Malayalam, it was simultaneously translated in several European and Indian languages. We are pleased to share her suggestions (exhortations) with a few minor edits. 

—editor

1. Since time cannot be postponed or carried forward into the future, use it with the utmost care. Create a daily routine and adhere to it as much as possible, with discipline.

2. Write down your personal weaknesses and negative habits on paper. Dedicate one specific day each week to consciously work on overcoming each of them.

3. Strive to be more mature and refined today—at least in one aspect of life—than you were yesterday.

4. Spend a little time each day cultivating awareness of nature. In your imagination, embrace and love all of creation.

5. Awaken the selfless love within you. Let love express itself through you every day. Care for at least one plant with devotion each and every day. 

6. When praise or blame, victory or defeat comes your way, reflect deeply and remind yourself that your true Self transcends all of these.

7. Nurture the virtue of forgiveness. Generously forgive the mistakes of others—and learn to forget them as well. This will help both you and your relationships with others. 

8. Every day, devote at least a short period to performing your actions with complete awareness and presence.

9. Use all natural resources with mindfulness and care. In life, place greater emphasis on what you have been able to give, rather than on what you have received.

10. Cultivate humility and simplicity. Respect the opinions of others and move forward through cooperation and mutual understanding.

11. Meditate on the form of your Guru—your spiritual teacher (if you don’t have one, you can meditate on supreme consciousness or the flame of a candlelight)  for sometime each day. Then remain silent for a while, resting your attention in your own true nature.

12. Cultivate an attitude of gratitude for the blessings you have received in life. Also, learn to accept personal responsibility for your mistakes, sufferings, and losses—what could you have done differently to avoid them?

What we need is not a mind that revels in the little, but a mind that seeks the sublime. Awaken. Elevate yourself. And uplift others as well.

By Hope Bohanec, author and activist, Oregon

As consumers become aware of the animal agriculture industry’s cruelty and environmental impact, clever industry marketers adapt with “humane” labels, small-scale tall tales, and other feel-good falsehoods. The term “humane hoax” is defined as new language and labels in animal product marketing that convey a false narrative of humane treatment and sustainable management of farmed animal operations. The marketing language and euphemistic labels tell a story of a supposed distinction from conventional animal products. But the reality on the ground, in the manure pits, during the mechanical milking, and inside the terrifying slaughterhouse, is fundamentally unchanged, despite promises to consumers of something new. Humanewashing and greenwashing are becoming more prevalent and pervasive than ever.

Also encompassed in the concept of the humane hoax is the new trend of people attempting to “do-it-yourself” with backyard farmed animal raising and slaughtering, generally with good intentions, but all too often, with cruel consequences. It has never been more important to educate people on the truth behind the industry lies, and people are hungry for the truth.

Overview:

In the time since I wrote the first book on the subject of the humane hoax, called The Ultimate Betrayal: Is There Happy Meat?, consumer awareness of the suffering of farmed animals has grown exponentially and so has the “alternative” animal product industry. “Cage-free,” “Certified Humane,” and other comforting labels are no longer elusive—dusty items only seen in the back corners of health food stores. They are now as common and numerous as cattle on a feedlot, spotted in common places like Walmart and your local coffee shop. In 2010, eggs labeled cage-free were a mere four percent of the market; that had risen to sixteen percent by 2017. The industry predicts that to meet consumer demand, cage-free production will be seventy-five percent of the market by 2026.

It is a hopeful sign that consumers are demanding better treatment for animals, but the actual difference in the life and death experience for a cow or a chicken with humane labeling is sadly minimal. I have done extensive research on this issue, interviewed numerous stakeholders, and personally visited multiple animal operations, and concluded that these unregulated labels mean very little, if anything at all, for the animal’s experience. I have examined this particular area of farmed animal advocacy, having written the first, and one of the only books on the topic, and having been professionally involved in the field for over two decades. I found, for example, that comparing hens confined in battery cages to those in cage-free barns bodes only slight improvements and those differences can vary widely from farm to farm.

Animal activists have time and again exposed the horrors of egg-laying hens crammed tightly in battery cages, with only the space comparable to a crowded elevator to live in. In response, the shrewd marketers representing the egg industry have distorted the story, altered the labels, and changed consumers’ conceptions. Instead of rejecting the inherent cruelty of commercial egg production, shoppers have been deceived by the fictitious choice of a seemingly “humane” alternative of “cage-free”—but the reality for the birds, however, is bleak.

The difference in the experience of a bird in a conventionally managed operation versus a cage-free one is negligible. Despite the optimistic label, most chickens in cage-free egg facilities still live in miserable overcrowded conditions in massive windowless buildings. Their eyes and throats burn from the ammonia gas released from their accumulated waste. They never feel the sun on their wings or experience a simple satisfying dust bath. Irrespective of any label, all the chickens still go to a brutal slaughter at a very young age. We must not let the deception of “new” marketing eclipse the fundamental cruelty of animal agriculture. The perception invoked by the “cage-free” label—that the birds are now living a good life—is a decidedly false one, a mirage created by the interaction of euphemisms and consumer hopes in the absence of accurate information.

As animal agribusiness attempts to wash the blood off its hands with a new fabrication of fresh farming methods, consumers, activists, and other caring people must educate themselves about the new narratives that the industry continues to weave. This anthology features a range of knowledgeable authors who are at the forefront of this marketing shift, chronicling every aspect with in-depth analyses and intellectual rigor. Among other topics, the book explores how so-called alternative animal agriculture intersects with feminism, affects the environment, is represented in the media, and impacts human and non-human communities alike.

On Contributors to the Anthology:

This anthology has an impressive list of contributing writers who are a diverse assortment of activists, academics, authors, and campaigners. They range from radical protesters to educating advocates to professional scholars in the academy. Of the seventeen expert contributors, eight are published authors, five leaders of advocacy organizations, eight have Ph.D. degrees, and three have masters. What they all share is a forward-thinking vision and common concerns with animal agriculture’s marketing shift from big to small, from industrial to local.

The Humane Hoax contains essays by noted animal rights and environmentalism figures like Carol Adams, Robert Grillo, Sailesh Rao, Karen Davis, and Christopher “Soul” Eubanks. Some of the contributors have done extensive peer-reviewed research on the subject while others have been working with farmed animal advocacy for decades thinking deeply about this issue. Still others are rescuing farmed animals directly from local and small-scale farms, witnessing first-hand the undeniable suffering that is commonplace in animal farming.

The Humane Hoax: Essays Exposing the Myth of Happy Meat, Humane Dairy, and Ethical Eggs; edited by Hope Bohanec. The book is available as a paperback and also as an e-book from Lantern Publishing & Media; lanternpm.org.

Every Impact Is a Message: Stay Alive, Stay Strong, Stay in Motion

 By Thom Hartmann, Wisdom School

As Louise and I have aged (our 54th wedding anniversary is in two weeks), we’ve noticed that one of the biggest challenges is keeping our posture straight and our bones from getting brittle. There’s science behind this challenge, and it gives us all suggestions for “keeping young.” 

Bone is one of the few tissues in the human body that remains alive and dynamic from birth to death. It’s not the rigid, inert structure most people imagine when they think of skeletons. In fact, it’s constantly growing, dying, dissolving, and rebuilding itself through a delicate dance between two main kinds of cells—osteoblasts and osteoclasts. 

This balance is what keeps us upright, protects our organs, and allows our muscles to move us through life. But as we get older, the harmony between building and breaking begins to shift, and the results can be devastating. Understanding how that process happens—and how we might slow or reverse it—is one of the quiet frontiers of aging science.

Bone is built primarily by osteoblasts, the construction workers of our skeleton. They take raw materials—calcium, phosphate, and collagen—and create new bone matrix. This matrix starts out soft, like scaffolding, then mineralizes into the hard tissue we recognize as bone. Opposing them are osteoclasts, which act more like demolition crews. They dissolve old or damaged bone so it can be replaced. 

In a healthy adult, these two systems are in balance: every bit of bone that’s broken down is replaced by new bone. But that balance depends on a complex interplay of hormones, mechanical stress, and nutrients that becomes harder to maintain with age.

When we’re young, our bodies prioritize growth and repair. Hormones like growth hormone, estrogen, and testosterone all signal bone-building cells to stay active and reproduce. Even the act of moving—walking, climbing stairs, carrying groceries—tells our bones to stay strong. 

Osteoblasts thrive on impact; they literally sense mechanical stress and respond by building more bone where it’s needed. That’s why astronauts lose bone density in zero gravity and bedridden patients lose it quickly in immobilized limbs. Bones are designed for stress. They grow from it, adapt to it, and depend on it.

But aging quietly changes the equation. By the time most people reach their 40s or 50s, osteoblasts start slowing down while osteoclasts keep right on working. Estrogen and testosterone, which protect against bone loss, begin to drop. In women, the sharp decline in estrogen during menopause often leads to an acceleration of bone loss so dramatic it can reach one to two percent per year. 

The result is a net thinning of the bones that can culminate in osteopenia or osteoporosis. What’s more, osteoblasts themselves become less responsive to mechanical stress and less efficient at mineralizing new bone, while their numbers dwindle with each passing decade.

Yet, there’s another layer to this story that is both hopeful and cautionary. Bone cells are not fixed in number; they arise from progenitor cells—stem-like precursors in the bone marrow and periosteum (the thin tissue surrounding bones). These progenitor cells can, under the right conditions, become new osteoblasts. 

Exercise, especially high-impact weight-bearing exercise, stimulates their differentiation. Nutrients like vitamin D, calcium, and magnesium fuel the process. Even exposure to sunlight, through its effect on vitamin D synthesis, plays a critical role in signaling these cells to mature. In a very real sense, every step we take outdoors in the sunshine is a small act of bone regeneration.

On the other hand, disuse and a sedentary lifestyle send the opposite message. When bones aren’t stressed, the progenitor cells shift toward becoming fat cells instead of bone cells, and osteoclasts take over the stage. 

This explains why modern sedentary living, coupled with diets low in essential minerals, has created an epidemic of bone fragility even among people who think of themselves as healthy. 

It also explains why impact—whether from walking, jumping, or resistance training—isn’t just good for muscle tone; it’s a direct message to your bones to stay alive.

There’s a growing body of research exploring how bone regeneration might be enhanced as we age. Some of it focuses on pharmacological ways to stimulate osteoblast activity or block osteoclast overactivity, like the bisphosphonate drugs or parathyroid hormone analogs now used for osteoporosis. Others look at stem cell therapies that could replenish the aging pool of bone-forming cells. 

But many of the most effective tools we already possess are natural. Regular resistance training, adequate protein intake, and maintaining proper levels of vitamin D and K2 can have profound effects on bone density. The simple act of impact—bones striking the ground, muscles tugging on tendons, joints bearing weight—remains the single most powerful way to keep bones young.

The idea that bone “knows” when it’s being used and responds accordingly is one of nature’s most elegant feedback loops. It means that our skeleton is not a fixed thing but a living organ that senses and adapts to our behavior. 

When we stop moving, bones interpret it as a signal that they’re no longer needed and begin to fade away. When we challenge them, they thicken, harden, and renew themselves. Even in old age, this feedback loop can be reawakened, though the gains are slower and more fragile than in youth.

In the larger metaphor of life, bone regeneration is a quiet but powerful reminder of resilience. Every day, millions of microscopic breaks form in our skeleton, and every day they are healed. It’s a never-ending cycle of destruction and renewal that mirrors our emotional and spiritual lives. The same principle applies: stress and impact, handled well, make us stronger. Avoiding stress entirely—physical or emotional—leads to a kind of decay. Growth comes from the right kind of pressure.

So while supplements and science continue to explore the biochemical angles of bone regeneration, the most profound lesson may be a behavioral one. Move every day. Load your bones. Walk, climb, stretch, lift, push. 

Feel the impact of your feet on the ground, because your bones are listening. They respond to every signal of life you send them, even late into old age. They want to grow. They’re built to grow. But they require our participation—the literal weight of our will—to keep doing it. 

In the end, strong bones are not just the foundation of our physical structure but the embodiment of our relationship with gravity, effort, and resilience itself.

—Thom Hartmann, educator and commentator, is the author of many respected books. Reprinted with permission. To receive new posts you can become a free or paid subscriber of this reader-supported digital publication, The Wisdom School: What it Means to be Human, where all articles are free and available to everyone. Copyright: Thom Hartmann, 2025.

By Kathy Shen, Age 11, New York. 

On a cloudy Monday morning, Bridgette was doodling in her sketchpad when she felt something hard and rough while reaching for her eraser. She turned and looked down to see a red notebook sitting at the roots of the ancient maple tree, as if it was waiting for Bridgette to pick it up. Bridgette was sure this wasn’t hers—she remembered clearly that there was not a notebook in sight yesterday nor throughout the week. She glanced around, unsure. The notebook looked old, with its leather spine peeling, but a bright red cover that still stood out against the gloomy, grey sky. Curiosity overwhelmed her and she flipped the notebook over to the first line on the first page.

In dainty, cursive handwriting, there was a message on the first line that said, “Write what you wish to be true.”

There was no name, explanation, or any other words on that page. It was as if the notebook had been waiting for her to make a wish.

***

Once Bridgette arrived home, she slipped off her sneakers and ran upstairs to examine the notebook. Through all her classes she was busy wondering if this notebook was a fraud or if it would actually work. She decided to keep it a secret in case anyone accused her of something. Bridgette grabbed her book and placed it on her desk. Tired from all this uncertainty, she took a deep breath and decided to test the powers of this notebook.

With shaky fingers as her pencil hovered over the second page, Bridgette wrote down, “I wish for tomorrow to be sunny.” She waited a while, half expecting something to happen, but the only sounds were the cars driving by outside. She sighed in disappointment as she saw the same old words on the page. Feeling a bit foolish and ready to go into a deep slumber, Bridgette crawled onto her bed with her thoughts racing.

Eventually, the silence rocked her to sleep.

***

The next morning came a little too quickly for Bridgette, as the rays of sunlight blinded her eyes when they opened. The thought of the notebook popped into her mind. Quickly, she jumped out of her bed and grabbed the notebook, flipped to the second page, and now saw a little check mark by her wish.

Bridgette’s heart quickened as she realized that her wish truly came true! Her mind began racing with ideas that she could make happen with the help of this notebook. Rinnnnggggg! Bridgette’s alarm went off, reminding her to get downstairs to leave. She quickly slammed her notebook into her backpack, put on her shoes, and ran down the stairs, eager to start the school day. Slamming the door shut, Bridgette practically skipped her way to school. She realized being friendless would bring her an advantage in keeping her magic notebook a secret.

 ***

As Bridgette walked to her seat, her head buzzed with excitement and she clutched her backpack straps a little tighter than before. If the notebook could change the weather, could it change her whole life?        

That afternoon, during lunch, Bridgette went to the library and sat down at a table. She carefully took her notebook out and flipped to a fresh page to write something new. With her hand no longer shaking, she wrote down the words, “I wish to be popular.” Bridgette stared at the words for a good minute, until the nervous, yet excited flutters left her chest. The bell rang just at that time, and she closed the book, hurrying to class.

The next day, when she walked up the steps, people she had never even seen before greeted her and smiled. At lunch, the cool crew, made up of football players and cheerleaders, insisted that Bridgette sit with them. Chelsea, the head cheerleader, smiled warmly.

“Bridgette! We were just saying how it feels like you’ve always been part of our group.”

Marcus, the quarterback, nodded, “Yeah, it’s like you’ve always belonged here.”

Bridgette blinked, surprised and a little unsure if they really knew her or if this was part of the magic. Even older students complimented her on her hair and style, saying it was so “original and lighthearted.” Bridgette’s hair was let down as always, and she still had her usual outfit of jeans and a t-shirt on. 

By the end of the week, Bridgette had already been invited to three parties, two study meets, and a popular kids group chat. There were all the cheerleaders, student council members, football players, soccer players, and anyone else who was a high member of her school society. However, She realized that people started laughing their lungs out at every joke she made.

“Why don’t scientists trust atoms?” she asked, and then smiled before the room exploded with laughter.

“Because they make up everything!” Bridgette was not sure if she even found this joke worthy of exploding over. She had used it as a test, curious to see what it was like being in the spotlight.

Little by little, Bridgette’s desk stopped being crammed full of sketchbooks and eraser shavings. Instead, it became full of party invitations and bottles of lip gloss. Bridgette finally realized that being popular was smiling all the time, laughing at everything, and performing. She felt as if she had to be “on” all the time. 

***

That night, when Bridgette came home, she went straight to her room and looked at the mirror. The person looking back was not the person who loved to draw or felt calm under the maple tree. The spark in her eyes seemed to have dimmed.

Bridgette sat on the bed, thinking about her wish. Being popular was not what she had imagined. It felt fake, empty, and lonely.

Slowly, she took out the notebook once more. On the next clean page she wrote down her wish:

“I wish to be myself again.”

By Kathy Shen, Age 11, New York. She adds: “I speak both English and Mandarin Chinese, and I come from a Chinese American background. I love storytelling, reading, and especially spending time with dogs, my favorite breed is the Cavalier King Charles Spaniel! Sadly, I do not have one yet.

“What’s important to me is fairness, honesty, and standing up for others. When I grow up, I want to be a judge or a lawyer because I care about justice and helping people. I also enjoy writing stories that explore emotions and choices, and I hope to get better and better at it. Writing helps me express what I’m thinking, and I love using it to imagine different possibilities.”

By Chris Cooper, author and poet, New Jersey.

The scariest thing about life is that there is no finish line,
so you never really know where or how far you have to go.
Living out each day, assessing the past and present while eyeing the future,
we choose directions based on impulse and prudence, decisions that guide the run.

And it starts out like a sprint with fast-twitch ambition and energized strides,
until fatigue sets in, forcing a recalculation,
an adjustment to the race; a realization that it’s actually a marathon,
requiring both stamina and endurance, a steadier pace.

And subconsciously, we’re convinced tomorrow is expected,
assuming there’s always another day, more time to catch up.
But you never really know if there’s a lifetime ahead,
another mile to go, or if you’re experiencing your last conscious breaths,
and maybe that’s the beauty of it all.

—Chris Cooper is the author of the 2024 debut novel Crazy by Conscious from Anxiety Press. He writes, “I created this poem to convey different aspects of the human condition with varying linguistic elements. I hope to one day be content without feeling the existential need to constantly create.”

I keep thinking
about the time in high school
when you drew
me
a map of the city,
I still have it somewhere.
It was so easy
to get lost
in a place where all the trees
look the same.
And now
every time I see
a missing person’s poster
stapled to a pole,
all I can think is
that could have been me.
Missing,
disappeared.

But there are no
posters for people
who just never came back
from vacation, from college,
from life.
You haven’t killed yourself
because you’d have to commit to a
single exit.
What you wouldn’t give to be your cousin Catherine,
who you watched
twice in one weekend get strangled nude
in a bathtub onstage
by the actor who once
filled your mouth with quarters at
your mother’s funeral.
The curtains closed and opened again.
We applauded until
our hands were sore.

But you couldn’t shake the image of
her lifeless body,
the way she hung there like a
marionette with cut strings.
And now every time you try to write a poem,
it feels like a
eulogy.
A desperate attempt to
capture something that’s already
gone.
But maybe that’s why we keep writing,
keep searching for
the right words,
because in this world where everything is
temporary,
poetry is our only chance at
immortality.

So even though you haven’t
found the perfect ending yet,
you keep writing.
For Catherine, for yourself, for all the lost
souls
who never got their own
missing person’s poster.
Because as long as there are words on a page,
there is still hope for an unfinished exit
to find its proper
ending.

About the Poet:
Claudia Wysocky is a Polish poet based in New York, celebrated for her evocative creations that capture life’s essence through emotional depth and rich imagery. With over five years of experience in fiction writing, her poetry has appeared in various local newspapers and literary magazines. Wysocky believes in the transformative power of art and views writing as a vital force that inspires her daily. Her works blend personal reflections with universal themes, making them relatable to a broad audience. Actively engaging with her community on social media, she fosters a shared passion for poetry and creative expression.