If (with apologies to Rudyard Kipling)

If (with apologies to Rudyard Kipling but it's too good a title not to steal)

If

We are islands
Separated from each other by gulfs unbridgeable
and
Each with our own ecosphere and atmosphere
and
Distinctive fauna and flora and geology
and
Different suns shining on different beaches
and
Singular forests climbing unique mountain valleys
and
Inimitable rivers pouring into individual seas

Then

There are a million million worlds, all detached and unaware of any
other, all containing all that there is, the hopes and dreams, the
past and present and future, the beliefs and non-beliefs, the thoughts
and reason, the milling throngs, the silent moments, the dream at
night, the waking moment, the drear routine, the ecstatic climax, the
neon lights, the dirty fingernails, the other actors, the personal
intertwining, all wrapped as one in one

And

To end a life is to snuff a universe

But

If

We are an archipelago
Connected by the sands of tidal beaches
and
United by a trade of sailing galleons
and
Related by the waves of radio
and
Cohabiting the bounteous ocean
and
Collaborate in plans and schemes
and
Conjoined in multiple benefit

Then

There is one thriving metropolis, in blocks and streets and squares
and parks, in towering office building, in humble dwelling, in
sprawling store, in moated mansion, all divided yet components, the
sum of myriad parts, the cog in the mutual motor, the organ in a
living body, the member of the team, all linked as one in many

Then

To end a life is to make us less

And

If

We are a continent
One nation amongst no others
and
One world adrift in space
and
One mind containing everything
and
One thought of all there is
and
One cell of dreaming existence
and
One particle of infinite energy

Then

There is only this, no other, there is only one and we are all and
nothing, creator and created, end and beginning, alpha and omega,
source and sourced, real and unreal, thought and void, god and mortal,
yes and no, why and why not, do and don't, one and one and all

Then

To end a life is suicide

Line Count: 66

Word Count: 361