Greed
I am Greed. My avarice is endless and everything must be mine. But my desire is immaterial. I do not want for money or power, man nor woman. I wish only to know. To know all that there is, and everything that isn't. To know tragedy and grief. Not just to look, but to see. Not to hear, but to listen. Not to touch, but to feel. Not to know, but understand. Because I am Greed.
And I want. I want to read every book and see all art. I want only to know every intimate detail of every individual who is alive, and of every person who has ever lived, and anyone who will ever exist. I want to know everything that has ever been thought, and everything that hasn't. And I want because I am Greed.
And again I wish. I wish to find every living creature on this planet and understand them. I wish to see the world as they do and experience their lives. I wish to see every sunset and every drop of rain. I wish to think as the ants do, to walk with amoeba, to commune with the gods. And again I wish because I am Greed.
Oh and only if I were given immortality, I could spend eternity learning the stories of every atom. To trace the path of every photon and hear their hallowed tales. To smell the stars and taste the nebula from which they were birthed. What euphoria it would be to peer beyond event horizons and glimpse the center of all that is and could be. Because I am Greed.
And what tragedy it is, to be finite when there is everything to be understood. What tragedy my knowledge is, knowing that I am held prisoner on this tiny planet. I am confined to a single existence. Shackled to a single point in space, trapped in a single point in time. What tragedy it is to see infinity before me, but to be finite. All is tragedy because I am Greed.
And I mourn. I mourn the deaths of all that have come before me. The billions who have died and died again to time. They will never be known. Their stories will remain untold. And I mourn for all those that are now. They will remain outside of reach. I mourn for those I may know, but I could never understand. And again I mourn for all those that will come. Their stories will outlive my own and be forgotten again. I mourn because I am Greed.
And still I grieve. I grieve that I cannot see as a bee does, because I do not have its eyes. I grieve that I will never understand a dog's love, because I do not have its soul. I grieve for the extinct, and the future species. I grieve for the mountains that have been lost to time, and the swamps that decayed eons ago. I grieve because I am Greed.
And I weep for all I don't know and again for how little I do. I weep because I am Greed and my avarice cannot be satisfied.
