Percolate

Of course, if you stop observing,
And start participating,
There are some risks that you’ll take along the way.
If you were to ask a scientist
Who has studied bacteria all his life,
To stop looking through the microscope,
And instead,
Live the rest of his life on the slide,
Would you really expect him to say yes?

And really, what’s the point?
You could watch everyone else make the same mistakes
Time and time again,
All without the pain of having to go through them yourself.

You’d start noticing patterns,
Like which people are the dominoes,
And who’s connected to whom.
Then suddenly- voila-
You have the gift of prophecy. 

But to tell you the truth,
Looking at a picture of skydivers
Never gave me any adrenaline,
And seeing others hold hands
Never gave me any goosebumps.

If only every first time we did something was with someone we loved,
If only we had that assurance,
I wouldn’t be afraid of the first time
I would die.