Careless Harms, Thoughtless Constructions
Lynne Sargent
I am sorry to have barged in.
I always forget
labyrinth-as-sanctuary
after so much
labyrinth-as-mystery
labyrinth-as-darkness
labyrinth-as-secret-to-be-excavated
I wanted to know,
though I know I cannot;
consciousness is too personal.
Who is to make claims about what lies
in the thought experiment, that Chinese Room,
what is understanding anyways
when language itself is a labyrinth
solipsism its walls
and all of us monsters.
How far were you into your childhood
when Theseus came?
Why did no one toss you a thread,
give you a kind ear,
or unravel a turn of phrase?
If only someone had taught you
to translate screams.
If only someone had looked
for something alive within
and in doing so, showed you
how to do the same.
Lynne Sargent is a writer, aerialist, and philosophy Ph.D candidate currently studying at the University of Waterloo. They are the assistant poetry editor at Utopia Science Fiction magazine. Their work has been nominated for Rhysling, Elgin, and Aurora Awards, and has appeared in venues such as Augur Magazine, Strange Horizons, and Daily Science Fiction. Their first collection, A Refuge of Tales, is out now from Renaissance Press. To find out more, reach out to them on Twitter @SamLynneS, or for a complete bibliography visit them at scribbledshadows.wordpress.com.