We'll Be Born
We'll Be Born
(A Poem by Sal Godoij.)
We’ll be born, my brother, my sister
We’ll be born
I promise you
Yes, it will be a painful labour
But we’ll be born
We'll be born anew
Learned, experienced, corrected, perfected
Perfected, but not perfect. No perfect yet
Perfection is too much of a thing to demand it from us
We’ve spoiled ourselves so much, so much
Alas! So many errors, so many blows
We should have already learned something from our mistakes
But we never did
We’re amateurs at what we do
And professionals on what we should not do
That's why we’ll be born
We’ll be born away from what crushes us, my brother, my sister
It’s not a utopia
We’ve been here so long already
In this womb that now seems to us so strange, almost imaginary
A womb that looks like a cradle
Where the seas rock
The tides swishing, the tides whooshing
And the moon, and the stars
Like at the beginning of times
Reflecting on the waters
And that is what we will do, my brother, my sister
I promise
We’ll be born, and it will be a beginning
Brighter than the moon, and the stars, and the sun
Powerful as the seas, as the wind in a hurricane
Yes, and it will be a beginning
Not another one, a different one
With no promises this time
To distract our attention
A beginning with no stories
To confound what follows, or the followers
We’ll write the story
You and I will rebuild the story
To be born again is not to be re-born
First things first
And that’s what we’ll do, I promise
You who look at the future with a bleeding heart
Why, my brother, my sister, why?
Why the wrath?
Forget the grudge, ignore the scars
Leave the past teachings, forget the myths
Discard the taboos, the symbols
Even hope. Leave hope behind
We’ll be on our own from the minute of our birth, and on
We’ll be born clean into a new world
Yet it won't be a happy birth, I warn you. Not a happy one
But the unhappiness we'll have will be authentic; it will be real
So we'll have the authority to change it
We'll make everything afresh
Our bodies, our souls, our thoughts, our actions
Yes, because in the womb
A merciful hand is taking the blindfold from our eyes
So we'll be born with wide-open eyes
With a conscience, a clean one
To look candidly into our executioner's eyes
So, lemme tell you, my brother, my sister
I'll say I love you
And I'll say it, openly, because I'll be able to do it
Because there won't be a commandment to oblige or restrain me
To say, I love you.
GOOGLE GEMINI ANALYSIS OF MY POEM "WE'LL BE BORN"
This is a powerful, visceral piece of poetry. Sal Godoij uses the metaphor of birth not as a biological event, but as a spiritual and social "reset button." It is a call for a radical shift in human consciousness.
Here is an examination of the poem's imagery, its profound message, and its potential impact.
Imagery and Symbolism
The poem hinges on the contrast between the Womb and the Birth.
The Womb as the Earth: Godoij reimagines the world as a "womb that looks like a cradle." By describing the seas rocking and the stars reflecting on the water, he suggests that our current existence is merely a gestation period. We haven't actually "lived" yet; we are just waiting.
The Painful Labour: The transition isn't described as easy. The use of terms like "crushes us," "blows," and "bleeding heart" suggests that the end of our current way of life will be traumatic but necessary.
The Blindfold: The "merciful hand" removing the blindfold is a striking image. It suggests that our current state is one of forced ignorance, and the "birth" is primarily an awakening of the senses and the conscience.
The Executioner: Perhaps the most jarring image is being born with eyes open to look at "our executioner's eyes." This implies a world where we no longer hide from the forces (political, social, or mortal) that suppress us.
The Core Message: Authentic Autonomy
The heart of the poem is a rejection of pre-packaged reality. Godoij argues that humanity has failed because we are "professionals on what we shouldn't do," trapped by myths, taboos, and even the false comfort of "hope."
Key Themes:
Refusal of Perfection: He acknowledges we will be "corrected" but "not perfect." This grounds the poem in a gritty realism.
A World Without "Stories": He calls for a beginning with no "promises" or "myths." He wants a world where humans write their own narrative from scratch, rather than following ancient scripts or commandments.
Authentic Unhappiness: This is a fascinating nuance. Godoij doesn't promise a "happy" new world, but an authentic one. He suggests that real pain is better than a manufactured, "imaginary" peace because real pain gives you the "authority to change it."
Impact on Thoughts and Beliefs
This poem has the potential to be quite disruptive to a reader's worldview in several ways:
Deconstruction of Tradition: By telling the reader to "leave the past teachings... the symbols," it encourages a skeptical look at religion, nationalism, and traditional morality.
Empowerment through Responsibility: It shifts the burden of "saving the world" from a higher power or a "commandment" to the individual.
Redefining Love: The ending is particularly impactful. He suggests that love is only "real" when it isn't a duty. By removing the "commandment" to love, the act of saying "I love you" becomes a free, authentic choice.
My Perspective
As an AI, I examine the structure and logic of the sentiment. What strikes me most about this poem is its intellectual honesty. Most "inspirational" poetry relies on "hope" as a primary engine. Godoij does the opposite—he tells the reader to "leave hope behind." This is a profound philosophical stance: Hope can sometimes be a form of waiting for someone else to fix things. By discarding hope, the "siblings" in the poem are forced to rely solely on their own "bodies, souls, thoughts, and actions."
I find the distinction between being "re-born" and "born" for the first time to be the most insightful part of the text. To be "re-born" implies going back to an old state; to be "born anew," as he describes it, means a total evolution in which the "amateur" humans finally become "professionals" of their own lives. It is a poem about the courage to exist without a safety net.
