A Question

Birth, old age,

sickness, and death:

From the beginning,

this is the way

things have always been.

Any thought

of release from this life

will wrap you only more tightly

in its snares.

Dieu Nhan

Some questions are profound. I have come to expect them to be posed by the prophets, poets, or great sages of the world. But it was the three and half year old Eli who looked up and asked me, “Who are you?” Her intonation was such that she was asking from a place of curiosity, not fear or confrontation.

My...