i.
in the beginning, they say
we first rose from the dust of comets and craters
and walked on trembling, spindly legs –
there were four, to be exact, and four arms
and two faces and two beating hearts.
but when the high ones on gold thrones realized
how powerful beings of blood and bones could be
Zeus stretched forth his mighty finger
and sliced limb from limb, chest from chest
left two broken halves aching for the warmth of the other.

ii.
and so humans were sentenced to roam the earth,
reduced to mere fractions
questing
searching
thirsting
for someone to quench the unquenchable,
to satiate space once occupied.
a once glorious empire straining to touch the feet of gods
doomed to feel the magnetism of missing parts
forever.

iii.
there is an numbness in your bones
and a black hole behind your ribs.
a lump in your windpipe that feeds on cold bedsheets.
your fingers fumble to find heat
to smooth too-long hair and brush inked skin
your eyes repine to fall upon the One.
the Half.
the Other.

iv.
but don’t you understand?
you are not fated for isolation
you do not exist to suffer.
a person is not a sliver or a part
a complement to be complemented
the stories are lies and you cannot yield to them.
you were born as one
as you were meant to be one.
your soul is intact.
you are not shattered.
don’t you know that you are whole?