Space

Cristabelle García

For a brief moment in time
which to me is everything I know 
and will ever know
there is this
the singular, fertile ground
from which joy and suffering sprout
sizeless, spaceful, and timebound.

I 
turned on
on my fifth birthday
as I stared at the moody flowers
on my black, fluttered skirt
red and white and pink
like my brain, the garden bed
of sleepless thoughts
and feverish dreams
which no one else will ever know 
or experience
which is why I think
I am those thoughts and dreams
yet the thought and the dream
and this bench 
and this sting
are all the same thing
appearances in the boundless space
that is me.

The skin, the skull
are these my outer edges
and if so, how is the thing that I call “I”
not spilling through my eyes?
How is the space that I am, able 
to contain the cross-pollination
that happens when I touch
the world, and the world
touches me back?

The Science

This poem taps into different aspects of the science of consciousness. It examines the ontological subjectivity of being a conscious self, the sense of which sparks a feeling of ownership and identification with thought. Weaving in the philosophy of non-duality, the poem also explores the notion of our own boundaries as selves (or constructed selves), inspired by the ‘extended mind’ research conducted by philosopher and cognitive scientist David Chalmers. The extended mind theory states that our thinking is not contained to the brain and there’s no sharp line between our minds and the environment.

The Poet

Cristabelle García is a Venezuelan-American writer and creative writing tutor living in San Francisco. She writes creative non-fiction and poetry. Her writing has been featured on Business Insider, and her poetry has appeared in the literary journal Consilience. She was recently awarded an honorable mention in the WOW! Q4 2023 CNF Essay Contest and a Poet & Author Fellowship for the Martha's Vineyard Institute of Creative Writing Conference.

Next poem: Svartifoss by Judit Hollos