‘Lasciate ogne speranza, voi ch’intrate’
Divina Commedia, Dante Alighieri

If only I were never born
sentient, like a piece of rock, a handful of soil,
a pebble at the bottom of a mountain stream,
or a speck of dust immune to the curse of life,
though perhaps even that would not be enough,
for the inscription over the gate actually reads:
to be.