The Toll

Is it mostly serene
Blissful, effortless
To live
Without a self
While maintaining one
During most of one’s waking hours

It might be
Effortless, serene
If one lived all alone
But even then —
There is a body, like a house cat
That sometimes, seeks company

But how can it be effortless
Or painless —
To be conscious, at all times
Vacant inside, dragging
The personhood outside

It cannot
It takes it toll
Not on the mind, for there is none
But only on the body
That already is
The walking
Dead

But, that’s the condition
Of all —
No difference whatsoever
Between the wise
And ignorant