if i mattered, how would i remain?

 if i were words, would you be the ink,

or would you be the paper i'm written upon?
if i were a book, would you be the cover,
or would you be the pages that are read?
if i were art, would you sell me only to the highest bidder,
or would you be the artist?
if i were a song, would you sing me,
or would you be the one who wrote it in the first place?

if i were a thought, would you be the one doing the thinking,
or would you be the afterthought?
if i were an emotion, would you feel me,
or would you show me?

if i were loneliness, would you be the distress,
or would you be the silence?

if i were a place, would you visit me,
or would you already be living there?
if i were a tree, would you sit in my shade,
or would you be the one who sowed my seed?
if i were a flower, would you be the stem,
or would you be my nectar?
if i were coffee, would you be the bean,
or would you be the caffeine?

if i were the wind, would you let your hair down,
or would you let me wreck you?
if i were rain, would you let me soak you,
or would you be willing to be drowned by me?
if i were lightning, would you be thunder,
or would you be willing to be a tree struck by me?
if i were the ocean, would you be the continents,
or would you be the waves?
if i were a sea, would you be my sailor,
or would you be the lighthouse?
if i were a planet, would you be my orbit,
or would you be one of my moons?
if i were the darkness, would you be the light,
or would you be an old friend lost in me?

if i were a grave, would you be the flowers on me,
or would you be the headstone?

if i were gone, would you be my absence,
or would you be the memories i left behind?