Totality
By Niall Twohig
Flyer with George Winne Jr.’s last written words, UCSD (1970)
We so often call midday heat “unbearable”
but remember this heat is just a fraction
of the heat bodies feel when set on fire
by the fires of war. Just a fraction of the heat
George Winne Jr. and Thich Quang Duc felt
when they lit themselves on fire.
They acted in a way that let them feel,
not a fraction of the Other’s pain, but the totality.
Self-immolation is hard for the mind to comprehend,
but the heart knows what’s behind such gestures.