Life

A thing like the one beside it,
Yet different from it,
Composed of matter like the former,
Yet comprising of something else altogether,

One knows somehow that they are different,
For they live, breathe, feel and eat,
What distinguishes life from inert matter?
Is it stirring or some biological factor?

It is alive, be it a single cell or a large creature,
But because of cytoplasm or some physical feature?
One may detect life through these but what defines it?
Is the Unnamed Conscience described by a formula on a chit?

How can one define a phenomenon by its effect?
A feeling by an inanimate compound?
Would that not mean, that a beaker of a hormone,
Has feelings too?

Do you think that naming your subject,
Lets you know it all?
Our definitions are indicative and useful, yes,
But not even remotely wholesome,
Theories and hypotheses have come and gone,
With each one eventually brushed aside,

Life is subjective, not an objective entity,
Felt by oneself, not others -
Yes, empathy is that magical bridge,
That connects lives across this material dimension.

Perhaps we are to learn,
That objective may not be whole -
That Another exists,
In a manner unknown -
Another Nameless Being,
That understands it all...